Jn 


UCSB  UBRARY 


HOME  FOR  THE  HOLIDAYS.  — Page  131. 


THE   SPRINGDALE    STORIES. 


HERBERT. 


RY 


MRS.   S.  B.  C.  SAMUELS, 

ATTTUOB  OF  "A1>ELE,"  "  EBIO,"  "NETTIE'S  TISIAL,"  "JOIINSTONE'B 
FABil,"  "  ENMSFELLKN." 


BOSTON : 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD,   PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK: 

LEE,  SHEPARD  &  DILLIXGIIAM,  4»  GREENE  STREET. 
1871. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870, 

Br  LEE  AND  SIIEPAKD. 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Electrotyped  at  the 

Boston    Stereotype    Foundry, 

19  Spring  Lane. 


AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 


THE   BOYS  AT  HILLSIDE. 


THE    SIPRING-ID^LE    STORIES, 

COMPLETE  IN  SIX  VOLUMES. 

1.  ADEZE. 

2.  ERIC. 

3.  HERBERT. 

4.  NETTIE'S  TRIAL. 

5.  JOHN  STONE'S  FARM. 

6.  ENNISFELLEN. 


PREFACE. 


THE  story  told  in  the  following  pages  is  a 
simple  one  of  life  at  school,  with  its  friend- 
ships, its  struggles,  and  its  jealousies. 

Young  folks  are  best  taught  the  lessons 
of  life  by  observing  and  analyzing  the  mo- 
tives and  actions  of  others  who  are  passing 
before  them,  in  scenes  which  are  most  familiar 
and  interesting. 

My  young  readers  will  find  that  a  firm 
resolve  to  do  light,  a  determination  to  obey 
and  follow  the  precepts  of  the  golden  rule, 
is  always  rewarded,  and  that  an  effort  to 
injure  others,  either  for  revenge  or  for  per- 
sonal benefit,  meets  with  a  speedy  and  certain 
punishment. 

One  should  never  attempt  to  rise  upon 
the  fallen  fortunes  of  another;  and  still  less 
should  effort  be  made  to  retrieve  a  lost 
position  by  sacrificing  another's  good  name. 

(5) 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
GOING  TO  SCHOOL 


CHAPTER   II. 
AN  UNPLEASANT  INTRODUCTION  ......      15 

CHAPTER   III. 
EXPLANATIONS  ............      26 

CHAPTER    IV. 

NEW  SCENES  AND  NEW.  FRIENDS  .....      31 

CHAPTER   V. 

A   JOKE   CARRIED   TOO   FAR  ........        41 

CHAPTER  VI. 
LIFE  OR  DEATH  ............      53 

CHAPTER   VII. 
NELSON'S  FLIGHT  ...........      60 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

HERBERT  PLEADS  FOR  WARREN  ......      66 

CHAPTER   IX. 
FOOT-BALL  .............      74 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   X. 
IN  THE  FORM ',   *    '      80 

CHAPTER    XI. 
AT  CALAIS 93 

CHAPTER   XII. 
TOM  WARD  GETS  INTO  TROUBLE 101 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE  MISSING  THEME 112 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
HOME  FOR  THE  HOLIDAYS 130 

CHAPTER    XV. 
FLAMBORO'  HEAD 140 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
A  SEAMAN'S  YARN  AND  A  SUDDEN  DESCENT.      154 

CHAPTER    XVII. 
HERBERT  GOES  DOWN  THE  CLIFF 162 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
THE  RESCUE 175 


HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GOING  TO   SCHOOL. 

HERBERT  STANLEY,  a  passenger  on 
the  express  train  from  London,  was  on 
his  way  to  Eton  for  his  first  term  at  school. 

It  was  a  sunny  autumn  afternoon.  The 
distant  river  glistened  like  silver.  The  grass 
and  growing  crops  looked  velvet-green.  The 
air  was  soft  and  warm ;  and  notwithstand- 
ing a  feeling  of  regret  at  leaving  home,  the 
little  American  lad,  seated  in  a  compartment 
of  the  car,  was  a  very  happy  boy. 

Eton  came  in  view.  A  stretch  of  smooth, 
green  fields  sloped  gently  to  the  river,  which 

(9) 


10  HERBERT. 

was  spanned  by  a  neat  iron  bridge.  Wind- 
sor Castle,  on  the  opposite  shore,  flashed  its 
broad  windows  in  the  sunlight,  and  stood  in 
stately  grandeur,  accepting  the  passing  trib- 
ute of  every  honest  English  heart  —  "  God 
save  the  queen  !  " 

Reaching  the  station,  the  train  was  soon 
emptied  of  its  passengers,  and  Herbert, 
glad  enough  to  be  released,  hurried  among 
them. 

Cabmen,  draymen,  and  porters  bustled 
about  in  great  confusion,  and  with  the  usual 
noise. 

Herbert  secured  his  "traps,"  as  he  de- 
scribed his  baggage,  signalled  to  a  cabman, 
and  was  soon  on  his  way  to  the  college, 
dreading  the  ordeal  of  examination,  but 
looking  forward  with  great  pleasure  to  his 
companionship  with  the  students. 

The  examination  was  not  so  trying  as  he 
had  anticipated.  Dr.  Russell,  the  head 
master,  asked  him  a  few  easy  questions, 
which  Herbert  answered  readily,  and  told  him 


TAKING    A    POSITION.  11 

to  take  his  place  in  Mr.  No  well's  form,  the 
fourth  in  the  upper  school,  and  appointed 
him  a  study  and  place  in  the  dormitory  at 
Mr.  Kaine's  house,  where  Herbert  went  at 
once,  and  entered  into  possession. 

Then  the  first  thing  was  to  get  his  port- 
manteau and  boxes  in  place ;  the  next,  to 
see  about  the  fitting  up  of  his  study,  which 
was  unfurnished. 

The  wall  paper,  of  a  pretty  pattern,  looked 
neat  and  bright,  and  the  window  shades  were 
in  good  order.  These  Herbert  decided  would 
do  very  well ;  but  he  must  have  curtains,  a 
carpet,  a  lounge,  chairs,  and  pictures. 

By  the  time  he  had  finished  the  inspection 
of  his  premises,  and  decided  on  what  was 
needed,  the  tea  bell  rang,  and  he  began  to 
realize  that  he  was  a  very  hungry  boy. 

He  started  for  the  hall,  following  a  group 
of  boys  who  were  laughing  and  chatting 
together. 

"  Holla  !  there's  a  new  fellow,"  some  one 
exclaimed,  as  they  entered  the  doorway. 


12  HERBERT. 

A  broad  stare  greeted  Herbert  at  this 
announcement,  and  he  was  beginning  to  feel 
very  hot  and  uncomfortable,  when  a  hand 
was  slipped  into  his  own,  and  a  pleasant 
voice  whispered,  — 

"I  say,  you  new  chap,  sit  next  to  me." 

Herbert  turned  gratefully,  and  accepted 
the  proffered  seat. 

M  Don't  mind  their  staring,"  said  his  new 
friend  ;  "  they  only  do  it  to  plague." 

So  Herbert  grew  more  composed,  and 
looked  steadily  at  two  or  three  of  the  boys, 
who,  finding  they  could  not  embarrass  him, 
desisted. 

"  What's,  your  name  ?  "  asked  the  boy  by 
his  side. 

"  Stanley  —  Herbert  Stanley." 

"  I  know  of  a  boy  by  that  name  in  Amer- 
ica," said  the  English  boy. 

"I'm  from  America,"  replied  Herbert. 

"You  are?  Then  you  must  be —  Are 
you  any  relation  to  Lord  Stanley?" 

"Not  much!"  answered  Herbert,  regartj- 


AN    INTRODUCTION.  13 

less  of  grammatical  rule ;  "  he  was  only  my 
grandfather's  cousin." 

"  Only  !  "  repeated  his  neighbor  ;  "  and  I'm 
'  only '  your  cousin.  Your  grandfather  was 
my  uncle." 

"  Well,  I  declare  !  "  cried  Herbert,  greatly 
pleased ;  "  then  you're  Arthur  Montgomery." 

"Precisely  so,"  laughed  the  English  boy  ; 
"  and  if  you'd  said,  '  Well,  I  declare,'  at  first, 
I'd  have  known  you  were  from  America 
without  the  trouble  of  asking  you." 

"I  say,  you  two,"  cried  a  boy  who  sat 
next  to  Arthur,  "  supper's  half  over,  and  you 
won't  get  any  more  to-night.  Monty,  that 
new  chap  hasn't  had  a  mouthful." 

"Eat  your  supper  now,  Stanley,"  said 
Arthur,  laughing ;  "  we'll  talk  afterwards." 

"Ay,  do,"  repeated  the  boy  who  had 
spoken  before ;  "  you'll  need  a  smashing  sup- 
per if  Monty  is  to  gabble  at  you." 

"Ward,  you  should  be  rewarded  for  that 
original  remark,"  retorted  Arthur. 

"  Three  hundred  and  sixty-five,"  exclaimed 


14  HERBERT. 

Ward.     "Monty,  my  dear,  if  you  can't  m- 
•  vent  another  pun,  pray  remember  the  num- 
ber of  times  you  have  perpetrated  that  one, 
and  spare  us." 

"  Ward,"  cried  a  voice  from  farther  up  the 
table,  "who's  the  new  chap?" 

"A  youth  to  Eton  scholars  all  unknown, 
Who  looks  with  horror  on  our  puns  and  mirth, 
But  Arthur  Monty's  marked  him  for  his  own." 

.Ward  replied,  with  mock  solemnity. 

"Shut  up,  Tom,"  called  Arthur.  "He's 
my  cousin,  Brocket;  his  name's  Stanley." 

"  And  '  Stanley '  was  the  cry !  " 

spouted  Tom  Ward,  striking  an  attitude, 
and  interrupting  Arthur's  introduction. 

Arthur  rolled  up  some  bread  crumbs,  and 
threw  the  pellet  at  Ward,  who  instantly  re- 
turned it. 

Luckily  for  them  both,  this  little  by-play 
escaped  tfie  eye  of  the  presiding  master. 
Had  he  noticed  it,  they  would  have  had  one 
hundred  lines  each  to  write  out. 


AN    UNPLEASANT   INTRODUCTION.    15 


CHAPTER  II. 

AN  UNPLEASANT  INTRODUCTION. 

PLL  take  you  over  to  the  school-room, 

1,  Herbert,  and  introduce  you  to  the  fel- 
lows," said  Arthur,  after  supper ;  and  lock- 
ing his  arm  in  his  cousin's,  they  set  forth. 

"I  want  you  to  like  Morton,"  he  contin- 
ued, speaking  of  his  brother.  "  He's  a  queer 
fellow,  but  good  as  gold  if  you  get  the  right 
side  of  him." 

Which  was  rather  an  exaggerated  account 
of  young  Lord  Morton  Stanley,  who  was  an 
intensely  disagreeable  boy.  He  had  recent- 
ly come  into  possession  of  his  title  by  the 
death  of  his  grandfather ;  but  the  dignity  of 
lordship  had  not  improved  him  in  the  least. 

He  was  a  pale,  sickly  boy,  with-  an  over- 


16  HERBERT. 

bearing,  passionate  temper,  and  suspicious 
disposition.  The  unfortunate  lad  inheriteJ 
a  disease  of  the  heart,  which  he  knew  was 
likely  at  any  moment  to  terminate  his  life  , 
and  for  Herbert,  as  next  of  kin,  and  conse- 
quently his  heir  (for  Arthur  was  a  half- 
brother),  he  had  always  felt  great  dislike 
and  jealousy. 

Now  Herbert,  who  had  only  spent  a  few 
months'  of  his  twelve  years'  life,  in  England, 
was  unaware  of  old  Lord  Stanley's  death, 
and  also  of  the  fact  that  he  was,  next  to  Mor- 
ton Stanley  in  direct  succession,  an  heir  to 
Stanley  Manor;  nor,  had  he  known  the  facts, 
would  he  have  much  cared,  for  he  had  an 
American  contempt  for  titles,  and  contem- 
plated no  other  future  than  that  of  returning 
to  his  old  home  in  Connecticut,  and  settling: 

7  O 

upon  the  estates  left  him  there  by  his  own 
grandfather.  He  was  therefore  entirely  un- 
aware of  young  Lord  Stanley's  feelings  re- 
garding him,  and  was  honest  in  his  answer 
to  Arthur. 


IN    THE   -SCHOOL    11  O  O  M  .  17 

"O,  I  know  I  shall  like  him  ;  "  and  then, 
with  a  hug  at  Arthur's  arm,  added,  "It's  so 
jolly  to  have  cousins.  I  have  none  on 
mamma's  side  of  the  family  ;  so  I  sliall  make 
the  most  of  you  and  Morton." 

w  Me  and  Morton  !  You'd  better  put  Mor- 
ton first,  young  man,  if  you  know  on  which 
side  your  bread  is  buttered,  "  returned  Ar- 
thur, with  a  laugh  ;  "  but  here  we  are  at  the 
school-room." 

Just  as  they  reached  the  door,  Arthur  was 
called  away  by  a  master,  and  Herbert  en- 
tered the  room  alone.  It  was  a  long,  high 
room,  with  deep,  panelled  wainscoting,  so 
high  that  a  lookout  from  the  windows  above 
was  impossible. 

Long  ranges  of  forms  extended  up  and 
down  the  room  in  unbroken  lines,  except 
for  the  desks  of  the  assistant  masters.  At 
one  end  of  the  room,  on  a  raised  platform, 
stood  the  head  master's  desk,  and  before  it 
recitation  forms  for  the  higher  classes.  The 
2 


18  HERBERT. 

wainscoting  was  freely  embellished  with  names 
carved  deep  into  it,  as  were  also  the  forms. 

He  had  no  time  for  further  inspection.  A 
pale,  haughty-looking  boy,  in  the  centre  of 
the  room,  caught  sight  of  him,  and  called  out, 
"Hallo,  you  little  new  chap  !  come  here." 

Herbert  advanced. 

"  This  is  the  Upper  School :  you  don't 
belong  here  —  do  you  ?  "  asked  the  stranger, 
rudely. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  replied  Herbert,  with  a  quiet 
smile. 

"  Why  not  ?  One  would  think  you  were  a 
Yankee,"  said  the  other,  with  a  sneer. 

Herbert's  cheeks  reddened. 

"I  am  not  ashamed  of  my  country,"  said 
he,  boldly.  "  I  am  a  Yankee,  from  dear  old 
Connecticut." 

"  Bravo,  bravo !  "  cried  a  number  of  the 
boys  clustered  around  them. 

But  the  one  who  had  taken  upon  himself 
to  question  Herbert,  without  heeding  the 
others,  continued,  — 


COUSINS.  19 

"  Then  you  had  better  walk  out  of  here. 
This  is  a  school  for  gentlemen's  sons.  We 
don't  want  any  sneaking  Yankees  here." 

Herbert's  blue  eyes  flashed,  and  his  ready 
hands  were  doubled  for  a  blow  that  would 
have  taught  the  English  boy  respect  at  least 
for  a  pair  of  Yankee  fists. 

Just  at  this  point  of  the  argument,  Arthur 
Montgomery  entered  the  room,  exclaiming, 
as  he  saw  the  two  together,  — 

"Ah,  there  you  are,  Morty.  Have  you 
discovered  our  cousin  Herbert?" 

"Who?" 

"What?" 

Herbert  and  Morton  simultaneously  ex- 
claimed, and  both  for  the  instant  dropped 
their  attitude  of  defiance. 

"Yes,  "  resumed  Arthur,  seeing  something 
was  wrong  between  them,  and  anxious  to 
have  them  friends,  "it  is  our  cousin  Herbert 
Stanley,  come  from  New  England  to  climb 
the  Hill  of  Science  in  the  paths  our  fore- 
fathers trod." 


20  HERBERT. 

w  Bosh  !  "  retorted  Lord  Morton  Stanley. 
"I  know  what  he's  here  for,"  he  continued, 
sulkily  :  he's  come  to  look  after  his  chance  of 
a  remove  to  the  peerage.  He  knows  I  have 
heart  disease,  and  he's  come  to  spy  —  " 

"O,  Morton,  Morton,  for  shame!"  ex- 
claimed Arthur,  hastily,  while  all  the  boys 
around,  in  very  shame  for  the  graceless  young 
baron,  hissed  and  groaned. 

A  genuine  expression  of  angry  amazement 
sprang  to  Herbert's  face,  hot  tears  filled  his 
eyes,  and  his  voice  was  loud  and  angry. 

"  I  never  thought  of  being  heir  to  Stanley 
Manor.  I  am  an  American  boy.  I  do  not 
care  a  snap  for  your  high  titles ;  but  I  do 
care  for  my  honor,  and  I  will  thrash  you, 
Lord  Stanley  though  you  are." 

"Thrash  me!"  cried  Morton,  laughing 
wildly.  M  I'll  teach  you  ;  "  and  he  threw  off 
his  jacket. 

"  A  fio-ht !  a  fight !  "  screamed  the  British 

O  O 

school  boys,  forming  a  ring. 


NELSON'S  ATTACK.  21 

"Morton,"  cried  Arthur,  "you  shall  not 
fight.  I  will  go  for  Dr.  Russell." 

"What  is  all  this?"  exclaimed  a  large, 
cruel-faced  boy, — Nelson  by  name, — who 
had  been  silently  looking  on,  throughout  the 
dispute.  "What  .are  you  vexing  his  lordship 
for,  eh?"  he  continued,  turning  upon  Herbert 
and  hitting  him  a  violent  blow  in  the  face. 

Quick  as  a  flash  Herbert  returned  the 
blow  ;  but  his  antagonist  was  nearly  twice  his 
weight,  and  much  more  used  to  fighting. 
Blow  after  blow  fell  with  telling  force  upon 
Herbert's  head  and  face.  He  could  not  have 
held  out  much  longer,  when  the  stern  voice 
of  a  master  interfered. 

Nelson  was  severely  reproved,  and  sent  up 
for  a  caning,  and  Herbert  was  despatched 
to  the  doctor's,  where  his  purple  bruises 
were  bathed  and  considerably  reduced. 

He  did  not  return  to  the  school-room,  but 
went  directly  from  the  doctor's  house  to  his 
lonely,  unfurnished  study. 

There  the  weary,  homesick  feeling  came 


22  HERBERT. 

over  him ;  and  seated  upon  one  of  his  boxes, 
the  forlorn  little  lad  wept  bitter  tears  of  dis- 
appointment. When  the  signal  for  bedtime 
sounded,  an  hour  afterwards,  with  an  aching 
head  and  fretful  spirit,  he  sought  his  couch 
in  the  dormitory.  He  looked  around,  in 
hopes  that  some  one  of  the  boys  who  had 
spoken  kindly  to  him  might  be  a  room-mate. 
But  all  the  faces  were  strange  except  one, 
and  that  one  was  the  last  face  Herbert 
would  have  liked  to  have  seen  there.  Scowl- 
ing with  hatred  and  defiance,  still  smarting 
from  the  effects  of  the  caning  he  had  re- 
ceived, stood  Warren  Nelson.  He  was  near 
the  candle,  and  when  Herbert  began  to  un- 
dress he  extinguished  it. 

Herbert  instantly  relighted  it. 

"  Put  that  out :  "  exclaimed  Nelson. 

"I  won't,"  said  Herbert,  flatly. 

"O,  you  won't  —  won't  you?  You  mean 
little  Yankee.  We'll  soon  see  if  you  won't ;  " 
and  he  grasped  the  curtain  stick,  intending 
to  o-ive  Herbert  a  severe  blow. 


PENITENCE.  23. 

But  the  boy,  whose  blood  was  now  fully 
up,  was  determined  to  resist  such  unpro- 
voked persecution.  He  snatched  the  stick 
from  Nelson's  hand,  and  struck  him  such  a 
blow  over  the  head  that  he  was  actually 
stunned  for  an  instant,  and  during  that  time 
Herbert  flung  the  stick  from  the  window. 

The  house  monitor  now  appeared  on  the 
scene,  and  ordered  them  both  to  bed,  assur- 
ing Nelson  that  if  there  was  any  more  dis- 
turbance in  the  room  he  should  be  reported. 

The  light  was  extinguished,  and,  alone  in 
the  darkness,  Herbert  knelt  to  pray,  appar- 
ently regardless  of  Nelson's  cowardly  taunt, 
although  he  winced  under  it. 

"O,  you're  a  saint  too  —  are  you?  " 

And  as  he  knelt  there,  a  white-clad  figure 
glided  noiselessly  into  the  room,  and,  kneel- 
ing beside  him,  stole  an  arm  around  his 
neck  ;  and  Arthur  Montgomery's  voice  whis- 
pered, — 

w  Cousin  Herbert,  try  to  forgive  Morton, 


24  HERBERT. 

and  forget  what  he  said.  He  is  very  sorry, 
aiid  ashamed  too.  Poor  Morton  1  " 

Herbert  was  touched  by  his  cousin's  affec- 
tionate advance.  His  better  nature  was 
moved,  and  his  prayer,  instead  of  being  one 
of  lip-service,  was  a  penitent  confession  of 
faults  and  a  sincere  wish  for  divine  help  for 
himself  and  those  who  had  injured  him  :  with 
a  blessing  for  all,  including  the  dear  ones  at 
Ennisfellen,  his  heart- felt  prayer  was  ended. 

Arthur  bade  him  good  night,  and  slipped 
back  to  his  room. 

As  Herbert  got  into  bed,  a  voice  near  him 
whispered, — 

"  New  boy,  what's  your  name  ?" 

"  Herbert  Stanley." 

"Mine's  Harry  Caruthers.  You're  a 
plucky  chap,  and  I  like  you.  If  Nelson 
hazes  you  again,  I'll  take  your  side." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Herbert,  gratefully. 
"  Good  night."  • 

"  Good  night." 

"  What  a  dreadful  boy  that  Warren  Nel- 


RESOLVES.  25 

son  is  !  "  thought  Herbert  to  himself,  and 
turned  over  in  a  comfortable  position  fpr 
sleep ;  but  instead  of  the  sleep  he  desired, 
there  came  a  still,  small  voice  whispering  that 
he  himself  had  not  been  quite  in  the  right. 
He  had  promised  at  home  not  to  fight  if  he 
could  possibly  avoid  it,  and  almost  his  first 
act  had  been  to  propose  a  fight  with  his 
sickly  cousin.  He  had  made  no  effort  to 
control  his  temper.  He  had  not  tried  to  con- 
ciliate either  Morton  or  Warren  Nelson,  and 
he  had  gained  two  enemies. 

"Ah,  well,"  sighed  the  contrite  lad,  "I 
have  made  a  bad  beginning  in  my  new  life. 
I  must  write  and  tell  grandpa ;  and  I  must 
watch  myself  carefully,  and  try  to  control  my 
temper." 

With  these  good  resolutions  he  fell  asleep. 


26  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

ARTHUR  MONTGOMERY  was  a 
very  fine  lad,  honest  and  high-spir- 
ited, but  extremely  good-natured. 

Although  three  years  younger  than  Mor- 
ton,—  or  Lord  Morton,  as  he  insisted  upon 
being  called,  —  Arthur  had  great  influence 
over  his  brother.  Morton  would  yield  to 
him  more  than  to  any  other,  and  would  al- 
ways receive  Arthur's  condemnations  of  his 
misconduct  very  kindly,  and  would  try  to 
improve  himself. 

But  all  Morton's  efforts  for  improvement 
were  of  himself,  whereas  Arthur  always  asked 
the  Lord's  help.  He  had  great  patience  with 
Morton's  whims,  and  his  firmness  in  persist- 


AN    EXPLANATION.  27 

ing  in  the  right,  and  keeping  Morton  from 
evil  companions,  was  almost  wonderful. 

The  secret  of  his  influence  over  his  brother 
was  the  great  love  he  bore  him.  The  two 
had  been  inseparable  from  their  babyhood, 
and  it  was  impossible  that  even  the  arrogant 
Lord  Morton  should  daily  encounter  so  fine 
a  nature  as  that  of  Arthur  without  being 
benefited  by  it. 

After  the  quarrel  with  Herbert,  he  sat 
alone,  whistling  softly  to  himself,  and  wish- 
ing that  he  could  control  his  violent  temper. 

His  altercation  with  Herbert  had  brought 
on  an  attack  of  pain  in  his  heart,  that  was 
hard  to  bear,  and  his  conscience  troubled  him 
about  his  ungracious  behavior. 

Arthur  came  in,  and  presently  inquired, 
"  Morty,  what  ever  set  you  out  so  ?  " 

"I  thought  he  came  to  watch  me,"  replied 
Morton,  now  heartily  ashamed. 

"  What  an  absurd  idea !  when  he  didn't 
even  know  that  grandpa  was  dead." 

"  Are  you  sure,  Arty  ?  " 


28  HEKBEKT. 

"Yes.  He  said  Lord  Stanley  was  his 
grandfather's  cousin  ;  and  besides,  he  has  only 
been  in  England  a  few  weeks.  You  remem- 
ber Adele,  his  sister.  She  was  at  Stanley 
Manor  when  she  was  a  baby,  and  a  dear  lit- 
tle thing  she  was  too.  Her  mother  took  her 
to  America  two  years  ago,  in  the  Europa. 
The  vessel  was  wrecked,  and  all  hands  lost, 
but  Adele  was  saved.  Then  just  as  they 
found  out  that  she  was  alive,  and  went  to 
claim  her,  she  was  stolen  by  a  circus  troupe, 
and  only  found  again  this  last  spring.  They 
were  all  summer  in  Germany,  and  have  but 
just  come  to  England.  I  should  think  you 
would  feel  ashamed  enough  for  the  way  you 
introduced  yourself,  and  lie  such  a  nice,  gen- 
tlemanly fellow." 

"  I'll  apologize  the  first  thing  to-morrow, 
Arty.  Don't  scold  me  any  more.  I  am 
really  sorry  and  ashamed." 

"  That's  right,  Morty  ;  you  always  come 
'round  right  in  the  end.  You  do  look  pale, 
and  I  will  not  talk  to  you  any  more  to-night ; 


NELSON'S  MOTIVE.  29 

but  when  the  lamps  are  out,  I'll  slip  around 
to  No.  7,  and  tell  Herbert  you  are  sorry,  and 
want  to  be  friends  with  him." 

"I  wish  Nelson  hadn't  pounded  him  so 
fearfully,"  said  Morton,  after  a  pause. 

Arthur  looked  up  quickly. 

"If  I  were  you,  Morty,  I  wouldn't  have 
a  fellow  like  Nelson  take  up  my  side.  He 
is  a  big  bully  and  an  awful  coward.  He 
wouldn't  dare  try  to  whip  a  fellow  of  his  size  : 
but  wasn't  Herbert  spunky?  What  made 
Nelson  fight  for  you,  Morty?" 

"  I  suspect  he  wants  my  influence  to  get 
him  into  the  new  boat  club,"  replied  Mor- 
ton. 

"  Then  I'd  let  him  want,"  said  Arthur,  con- 
temptuously ;  "  for  if  such  fellows  as  he  join, 
I  shall  resign." 

"  O,  I  won't  let  him  get  in,"  said  Morton, 
positively. 

rt  I  must  say  good  night  now,  or  I  shall 
talk  you  to  death,"  said  Arthur,  and  went 
around  to  his  room. 


30  HERBERT. 

Morton's  suspicion  of  Nelson's  motive  for 
striking  in  his  defence  was  right. 

Nelson  wished  to  be  admitted  to  the  boat 
club  of  which  Lord  Stanley  was  president, 
and  thought  to  ingratiate  himself  with  him 
by  whipping  Herbert,  though  he  knew  Her- 
bert had  done  nothing  to  provoke  such  treat- 
ment. 

What  he  had  failed  in  doing  for  Lord 
Stanley,  he  was  now  determined  to  do  for 
himself  and  resolved  to  be  revenged  upon 
Herbert  for  innocently  getting  him  a  thrash- 
ing from  the  master. 

How  his  resolve  was  kept  we  shall  see,  for 
his  malicious  spirit  was  not  changed. 


NEW    SCENES    AND    FRIENDS.       31 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

NEW   SCENES   AND  NEW  FRIENDS. 

THE  next  morning,  long  before  the  sig- 
nal for  rising  had  sounded,  Herbert 
was  up  and  dressed,  and  had  read  his  Bible 
verses  and  said  his  prayers. 

The  sun  had  just  risen  and  glinted  in 
through  the  dingy  diamond-shaped  panes  of 
glass ;  but  Herbert  thought  the  beams  as 
bright  as  those  that  came  through  the  long 
windows  at  home.  A  peaceful  feeling  of 
good  will  had  settled  in  his  heart,  and  he 
was  contented  with  everything,  and  therefore 
happy. 

"  I  guess  I'll  take  a  look  at  the  college 
buildings,"  he  thought,  and  ran  for  his  cap. 

The  house  in  which   he  was   established 


32  HERBERT. 

was  not  one  of  the  college  buildings,  but 
belonged  to  Mr.  Kaine,  an  usher  in  the 
school. 

The  dormitories  within  the  college  yard 
were  occupied  by  king's  scholars,  or  pupils 
who  could  not  afford  to  pay  for  their  tuition, 
and  for  whom  the  college  was  originally  built 
and  endowed.  But  connected  with  the  insti- 
tution were  several  houses  like  that  of  Mr. 
Kaine,  where  pupils  of  rank  or  wealth  were 
boarded,  and  where  they  were  not  so  subject 
to  the  college  authorities  as  those  within  the 
walls.  These  pupils  are  called  oppidans. 
They  take  their  meals  at  the  houses  where 
they  lodge,  but  the  king's  scholars  breakfast, 
dine,  and  sup  in  the  college  hall. 

The  buildings  of  the  college  surround  two 
quadrangles :  the  outer  quadrangle,  great 
court,  or  school  yard,  is  enclosed  by  the 
chapel,  schools,  dormitories  of  the  scholars, 
and  masters'  chambers,  and  has  in  its  centre 
a  bronze  statue,  of  the  royal  founder  of  the 
college,  Henry  VI. 


THECOLLEGE.  33 

The  inner  or  lesser  quadrangle  contains 
the  library,  hall,  and  various  offices,  and  is 
bounded  by  the  cloisters.  The  provost's 
lodge,  an  ancient  tower,  and  a  gateway  con- 
nect the  two  courts.  A  massive  stone  wall 
surrounds  the  whole.  To  the  east  of  the 
cloisters  are  the  college  gardens,  to  the 
north  the  play-grounds,  and  beyond  them 
the  cricket-fields. 

The  town  consists  principally  of  a  single 
street,  well  paved  and  lighted,  and  having 
rows  of  houses  or  shops  upon  either  side. 

All  of  this  Herbert  heard  of  or  saw  dur- 
ing his  morning  walk  ;  and  he  also  peeped 
into  the  lower  school,  which  the  janitor  was 
arranging  for  the  day. 

The  room  was  long,  like  the  upper  school, 
but  very  low  studded.  Along  each  side  ex- 
tended a  line  of  arches  supported  by  pil- 
lars, and  behind  these  were  the  seats  of  the 
scholars. 

Herbert  thought  it  a  very  unpleasant  look- 
ing room.  The  janitor,  a  talkative,  one-eyed 
3' 


o4  II  E  11  B  E  R  T  . 

man,  nicknamed  Cyclops,  informed  him  that 
it  had  formerly  been  the  college  stable. 
"While  he  was  speaking,  the  great  bell  in 
the  tower  began  a  loud  clanging. 

"  What  is  that  for  ?  "  inquired  Herbert. 

"  For  prayers ;  and  you'll  be  marked  for 
shirking  chapel,  if  you  don't  hurry  in." 

"All  right,"  said  Herbert,  and  hurried 
around  to  the  chapel  door,  where,  spying  his 
cousins,  he  joined  them,  and  entered  the 
church. 

It  was  a  goodly  sight  to  see  the  six  hun- 
dred Etonians  kneeling  with  bowed  heads, 
while  Mr.  Nowell  read  the  prayers,  asking 
the  good  Lord's  blessing  upon  the  young  flock 
committed  to  his  care.  Herbert,  to  whom 
the  services  were  entirely  new,  was  very 
much  impressed  by  them.  The  solemn  gran- 
deur of  the  church,  the  deep-ton'ed  voice  of 
the  clergyman,  and  the  devotional  attitudes 
of  the  boys,  were  awe-inspiring.  It  seemed 
as  if  he  could  not  breathe  freely  until  the 


A     K  E  C  O  X  C  I  L  I  A  T  I  O  N  .  35 

benediction  was  pronounced,  and  they  were 
again  in  the  open  air. 

"  Herbert,"  said  Morton,  turning  to  him, 
and  with  an  evident  effort  overcoming  his 

O 

pride,  "I  am  sorry  I  was  so  rude  to  you 
yesterday." 

"O,  never  mind  it,"  answered  Herbert. 
"  I  was  very  rude  myself." 

"  Will  you  shake  hands  and  be  friends 
now?"  inquired  his  cousin. 

"Yes,  indeed,  gladly,"  was  the  quick 
reply ;  and  Morton's  proffered  hand  was 
grasped  heartily. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  cried  Arthur,  patting  them 
both  upon  their  backs ;  "  that's  something 
like." 

"Yes,"  echoed  a  voice  behind  them; 
adding,  — 

"For  'tis  a  shocking  sight 
When  children  of  one  familee 
Fall  out,  and  jibe,  and  fight." 

Of  course  it  was  the  incorrigible  Tom 
Ward,  whose  abundance  of  fun  and  good 


36  HERBERT. 

spirits  never  let  him  speak  without  uttering 
absurd  quotations,  poor  puns,  or  other  non- 
sense. 

t!Are  you  there,  Noddy?"  said  Arthur, 
turning  :  "come  here,  and  welcome  my  cousin 
to  Eton." 

Tom  advanced,  exclaiming,  with  a  mock 
transport  of  rapture,  — 

"  Most  illustrious  cousin,  welcome,  wel- 
come, thrice  welcome  to  these 

'  Distant  spires,  these  antique  towers, 
That  crown  the  watery  glade, 
Where  grateful  Science  —  '  " 

"O,  get  out,  Noddlepate,"  cried  Morton, 
pettishly:  "one  gets  tired  of  such  everlast- 
ing twaddle." 

"Herbert,"  said  Arthur,  with  a  laugh, 
"  Noddy  isn't  so  much  a  donkey  as  you'd 
think:  he's  first  in  his  form,  and  minds  his 
p's  and  q's  in  school,  I  can  tell  you.'' 

"  That  reminds  me,"  exclaimed  TomWard  : 
"  have  you  seen  old  Rusty  yet  ?  " 


IN     SCHOOL.  37 

"  Who? "  asked  Herbert,  looking  blank. 

"Old  Rusty." 

"For  shame,  Tom  !  "  cried  Morton.  "  He 
means  Dr.  Russell,  Herbert." 

"Yes,  I've  seen  Dr.  Russell,"  Herbert  an- 
swered. "  I  went  at  once  to  him  when  I  ar- 
rived. He  told  me  to  enter  Mr.  Nowell's 
form." 

"That's  ours,  the  fourth,"  said  Arthur. 
"  Morton's  in  the  upper  fifth." 

"  You'll  have  to  toe  the  mark  here,  Stan- 
ley," said  Tom,  in  a  low  voice,  as  they  en- 
tered the  breakfast-room. 

"  Kaine  is  true  to  his  name  :  he  always  has 
a  rattan  for  your  back, 

'And  a  melancholy  crack 
In  his  laugh,' 

that    savors  of  a  few  hundred  lines  to  be 
written  out." 

Herbert  laughed  heartily  :  he  thought  Tom 
AVard  was  the  most  irresistibly  comical  boy 
he  had  ever  seen,  for  whatever  he  said  was 
accompanied  by  such  absurd  airs  and  ridic- 


38  HERBERT. 

ulous  gestures,  that  even  the  masters  were 
amused  into  smiling. 

As  the  morning  was  the  first  of  the  half 
year,  only  a  few  general  exercises  were  gone 
through  in  the  school-room.  And  the  lessons 
were  assigned  for  the  next  day. 

Herbert  set  about  furnishing  his  room  as 
soon  as  he  was  released  from  school  duties. 
Arthur  volunteered  to  accompany  him  to 
the  different  stores,  arid  they  set  out  on  their 
business  expedition  —  a  novel  one  to  Her- 
bert. 

A  bright  carpet  was  selected,  and  curtains 
to  match,  an  easy  chair,  a  lounge,  and  a 
couple  of  box  ottomans  for  the  two  win- 
dows. 

The  shopkeeper  then  suggested  book- 
shelves and  a  table,  which  Herbert  thought 
he  should  need ;  but  as  he  had  only  enough 
money  to  pay  for  the  things  he  had  ordered, 
he  decided  to  write  to  his  grandfather  before 
purchasing  further. 

Arthur  invited  him  down  to  the  river  to 


ARTHUR'S   KINDNESS.         39 

the  club-house ;  but  Herbert  thought  he 
would  write  home  at  once,  knowing  how 
they  would  look  for  a  letter  at  Ennisfellen. 

"You  can  write  in  my  study,"  said  his 
cousin,  kindly.  "I'll  be  back  in  half  an 
hour.  Here's  the  key.  Leave  your  un- 
packing till  I  get  back  to  help  you." 

He  started  on  a  quick  run  for  the  river ; 
but  in  a  minute  he  halted  suddenly,  and 
called  after  Herbert,  who  had  turned  towards 
Mr.  Kaine's. 

"Herbert,  Herbert,  send  ray  love  and 
Morton's  to  the  little  one,  and  our  regards 
to  the  others." 

"All  right,"  answered  Herbert;  "thank 
you  ;  "  and  he  watched  Arthur  out  of  sight 
murmuring  to  himself,  "  He's  a  splendid  fel- 
low." 

Mr.  Kaine's  house  stood  at  the  head  of 
Eton  Main  Street,  and  the  windows  of  Her- 
bert's study  took  in  a  complete  view  of  the 
town,  the  college  yard  and  buildings,  the 


40  HERBERT. 

groves  and  lawns,  among  whose  shade  and 
turf  the  Thames  found 

"  His  silver-winding  way," 

the  sunny  hills,  the  picturesque  bridge  across 
the  river,  and  the  magnificent  castle  of  Wind- 
sor in  the  distance. 

"After  all,"  thought  the  lad,  as  he  lin- 
gered over  the  lovely  scene,  "  Eton  is  not 
half  bad,  with  such  a  view  as  this." 

But  it  was  not  so  much  the  pleasing  pros- 
pect that  made  him  happy,  as  the  sunny 
smile  and  kind  heart  of  his  cousin  Arthur. 


LETTER,    TO     A  DELE.  4'1 


I 


CHAPTER  V. 

A   JOKE    CARRIED   TOO   FAE. 

S  Arthur's  study  Herbert  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing letters  : — 


"  ETON  COLLEGE,  Sept.  3. 
"  MY  DARLING  A  DELE  : 

"  It  seems  so  strange  to  write  to  you  !  for  I 
never  did  before,  except  printed  notes,  when 
I  was  a  little  chuck,  —  I  mean  boy.  I  miss 
you  so  much  !  and  grandpa  and  grandma  too. 
Adele,  I  was  ever  so  long  getting  here,  and 
was  tired  enough.  I  came  in  the  cars  from 
London.  It  is  very  nice'here.  -The  river  is 
nice,  but  not  like  the  sea  at  Ennisfellen.  It 
is  too  small.  I  am  going  over  to  Windsor 
to-morrow  to  see  the  queen's  castle.  I  can 
see  it  from  here,  but  not  so  well  as  if  I  was 


42  HERBERT. 

nearer  to  it.  When  I  got  here  I  found  our 
cousins  Arthur  Montgomery  and  Morton, 
Lord  Stanley.  And  the  first  thing,  Morton 
picked  a  quarrel  with  me  because  he  has 
heart  disease.  I  shouldn't  have  tried  to 
fight  him,  he  was  such  a  sickly  looking  coot, 
though  I  could  have  knocked  him  down  as 

O 

easy  as  nothing  at  all.  But  I  did  try  to,  and 
a  fellow  named  Nelson  struck  me,  and  I 
went  at  him ;  but  a  master  made  us  stop 
fighting.  I  was  glad,  for  he  was  giving  it  to 
me  like  Hail  Columbia.  Please  tell  grandpa 
I'll  try  not  to  fight  again.  Morton  and  I 
made  up  to-day.  I  think  Arthur  is  the  best 
fellow  I  ever  savV,  next  to  Eric  Hyde. 
There's  a  boy  here,  Tom  Ward  ;  he  makes 
me  laugh  like  everything,  for  he  makes  fun 
of  everything  and  everybody  in  poetry.  My 
study  is  nice,  but  there  isn't  much  of  any- 
thing in  it  yet. 

"  Good  by,  Adele.     Tell  Max  not  to  let 
my  pony  eat  too  much  grass,  and  not  to  give 


BUSINESS    LETTER.  43 

Carlo    any  raw  meat.     Good  by,  with   my 

best  love. 

"  HERBERT  NICHOLS  STANLEY. 

"  P.  S.  I  forgot  to  send  you  Arthur's  and 
Morton's  love." 

"MR.  KAINE'S,  ETON  COLLEGE,  Sept.  3. 

"  DEAR  GRANDPAPA  : 

"  My  letter  to  Adele  will  tell  you  all  the 
news,  and  I  shall  only  write  business  matters 
in  this?  I  had  to  buy  everything  for  my 
study,  and  have  not  got  quite  all  the  things 
yet,  for  I  promised  you  that  I  wouldn't  get 
into  debt,  and  I  haven't  got  any  money  now. 
I  spent  — 


For  my  Carpet,      j 

15     Os. 

Curtains,    ..... 

1     0 

Easy  Chair,     .... 
Lounge, 

1  12 

3     2 

Ottomans,  ..... 

1     8 

Putting  down  Carpet,  .       ... 
up  Curtains,     .... 
Curtain  Cord  and  Fixtures, 

0     2 
0     1 
0     4 

£12     9*. 


44  HERBERT. 

"1  want  a  table,  and  some  shelves  for  my 
books.  And  I  wish  I  could  have  some 
pretty  pictures  to  hang  on  the  walls,  and 
a  wash-stand  to  keep  in  rny  own  closet,  for 
there  ai*e  only  two  in  the  dormitory,  and  six 
boys  have  to  take  turns  at  them.  I  want  to 
get  ray  room  all  fixed  before  you  and  Adele 
come. 

"  I'm  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  fourth 
form,  Upper  School,  but  I  won't  be  there 
long.  Arthur  is  there  too,  and  he's  two 
years  older  than  I.  Morton's  up  in  the 
fifth,  where  I  mean  to  be  soon. 

"  With  my  dear  love  to  grandmamma  and 
yourself,  your  own  boy, 

"  HERBERT  NICHOLS  STANLEY. 

"P.  S.  I  read  my  Bible  verses,  and  say 
my  prayers,  and  try  to  be  a  good  boy." 

When  Arthur  returned  from  the  clul>, 
Herbert  had  sealed  and  directed  his  letters, 
and  Arthur  showed  him  where  to  post  them. 


GREEK     AND     LATIN.  45 

Then,  as  a  man  had  come  to  put  down  the 
carpet  and  fix  the  curtains,  Herbert  remained 
with  Arthur,  and  began  preparing  his  Greek 
translation  for  the  next  day.  In  about  twen- 
ty minutes  he  closed  the  book. 

"Can't  you  do  it?"  asked  Arthur,  looking 
up  from  his  page.  „ 

"  Why,  yes,"  replied  Herbert ;  "  it's  easy 
enough." 

"You  haven't  done  it?" 

"Yes,  and  twelve  lines  extra  ;  for  I  want- 
ed to  see  if  Hebron  died." 

"Xot  he,"  said  Arthur  with  a  groan  ; 
"he'll  live  to  torment  us  all  this.  term.  But 
I  say,  Herbert,  how  can  you  read  Greek  so? 
I  haven't  got  it  half  out,  and  we've  read  it 
before,  too." 

"  My  grandfather  was  a  classical  scholar, 
and  he  drilled  me  thoroughly  out  of  school, 
while  Mr.  Upton,  the  master,  did  the  same 
in  school.  I  owe  it  all  to  them." 

"  Are  you  as  good  at  Latin  ?  " 


46  H  E  it  B  E  11  T  . 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Herbert,  modestly. 
"  About  the  same,  I  guess." 

"And  you  speak  French  and  German. 
O,  dear  me  !  Are  you  stupid  at  anything?" 

"Yes,"  said  Herbert,  frankly;  "arithme- 
tic. I've  only  got  to  Long  Division." 

"That's  my  forte,"  said  Arthur;  "I'm 
through  Euclid.  I'll  tell  you  what,  you 
help  me  in  classics,  and  I'll  help  you  in 
mathematics." 

"All  right,"  responded  Herbert,  deep  in 
another  lesson.  His  recitations  were  soon 
prepared,  the  exercises  written  out,  and  as 
nothing  was  left  in  the  way  of  lessons,  save 
mathematics,  for  the  evening,  and  as  Arthur 
was  still  digging  away  at  his  repetition,  Her- 
bert stole  quietly  from  the  room,  and  went 
around  to  his  own  study. 

How  inviting  it  looked  now  !  The  car- 
pet was  neatly  tacked  down,  the  curtains 
were  looped  back  from  the  windows,  and  it 
needed  but  a  few  minutes'  work  to  push  the 
ottomans,  chair,  and  lounge  into  their  ap- 


A    BARGAIN    STRUCK.  47 

propriate  places,  to  make  a  very  snag,  pre"tty 
little  study. 

There  was  a  mantel-shelf  and  a  nicely 
polished  grate  in  the  room,  and  Herbert 
thought  he  would  build  a  fire  in  read  inc.-. - 
for  the  first  cold  weather.  So  he  went  to 
the  housekeeper,  who  agreed  to  find  some 
one  who  would  look  after  the  sweeping  and 
dusting  of  his  room,  the  making  of  fires,  and 
the  mending  of  his  linen,  for  the  reasonable 
sum  of  three  shillings  per  week ;  which  was 
the  more  extremely  generous  in  her,  as  she 
was  required,  by  virtue  of  her  office,  to  attend 
to  such  matters,  and  received  an  ample  sti- 
pend from  the  master  of  the  house,  of  which 
Kaine  took  occasion  to  inform  Herblfrt 
soon  after  the  bargain  was  made,  much  to 
the  wily  old  housekeeper's  chagrin. 

Returning  to  the  room,  he  found  Arthur 
waiting  to  help  him  unpack. 

"First,  we'll  take  the  clothes,"  said  Her- 
bert. 

So  Arthur  helped  unstrap  the  box  which 


48  HERBERT. 

held  his  garments,  and  these  were  soon  neat- 
ly hung  in  the  closet. 

"The  linen  is  to  go  into  one  of  those  ot- 
tomans, I  suppose,"  said  Arthur. 

"Yes,  cart  it  along,"  replied  Herbert,  in- 
elegantly, busily  undoing  the  wrapper  of  a 
mysterious  looking  package,  which  he  did 
not  remember  to  have  seen  before.  It  con- 
tained a  lovely  picture  of  Adele,  and  the  boy 
was  delighted  with  it. 

Arthur  must  admire  it,  of  course  ;  then  the 
unpacking  was  resumed,  with  no  other  inter- 
ruption than  the  examination  of  a  new  writ- 
ing-desk,—  "a  present  from  grandpapa,"  — 
nicely  fitted  up  and  furnished,  and  having  in 
its  postal  compartment  a  crisp  new  five-pound 
note  "from  grandma;"  both  of  which  pres- 
ents excited  Arthur's  admiration. 

The  play  box  was  not  so  readily  emptied. 
But  after  a  while  it  was  ready  to  be  taken 
with  the  other  to  the  loft,  there  to  remain 
until  the  next  midsummer  holidays. 

"  Well,   I   declare,"  cried   Morton,   enter- 


H  A  R  R  Y'S     W  A  K  N  I N  G .  49 

ing,  "  what  a  nice  cosy  study  !  Here's  Ca- 
ruthers,  Stanley,  come,  with  a  long  face,  to 
warn  you  against  some  dire  misfortune." 

"It's  only  to  tell  you  to  look  out  for  War- 
ren Nelson  :  he  means  you  harm,"  said  Har- 
ry, earnestly  ;  while  Tom  Ward,  coming  up 
behind  him,  spouted  with  solemnity,  — 

"  New  boy,  new  boy,  beware  of  the  day; 
When  Nelson  shall  meet  thee  in  battle  array ; 
For  —  " 

"The  supper  bell  sounds  !  "  exclaimed  Ar- 
thur, interrupting  him ;  and  away  they  all 
clattered  down  stairs,  as  hungry  as  school- 
boys usually  are. 

After  supper,  Herbert  went  to  his  tutor, 
Mr.  Edwards,  who  was  to  push  him  along 
in  mathematics  ;  and  when  the  lesson  was 
over,  the  tired  boy  was  glad  to  go  to  bed. 

All  was  quiet  in  the  dormitory,  only,  as  he 
passed  Harry  Caruthers'  bed,  the  boy  made 
a  signal  for  him  to  be  watchful. 

But,  after  saying  his  prayers,  the  bed  felt 
so  comfortable,  the  room  was  so  quiet,  and 
4 


50  HERBERT. 

Herbert  so  tired,  that  while  resolving  to  re- 
main awake  for  a  while  at  least,  he  fell  asleep. 

Harry,  too,  soon  succumbed  to  the  drowsy 
god  ;  and  when  the  house  monitor  went  his 
round,  the  deep,  regular  breathing  in  No.  7 
convinced  him  that  all  was  well. 

But  scarcely  had  the  monitor  reached  his 
own  room,  when  Nelson,  who  had  slipped 
under  the  bed-clothes  without  undressing, 
arose  stealthily,  groped  his  way  in  the 
darkness  to  Herbert's  bed,  and  seizing  the 
thick  counterpane,  thrust  it  over  the  sleep- 
ing boy's  head,  holding  it  tight  with  one 
hand,  while  with  the  other  he  stopped  his 
breath  by  pressing  his  hand  close  over  the 
sleeper's  mouth  and  nose. 

Herbert  was  having  a  happy  dream  of 
ome.  Suddenly  the  scene  changed :  a 
house  had  taken  fire,  and  he  was  within  it. 
The  smoke  was  stifling  him.  He  could  not 
escape  ;  he  could  not  breathe.  Must  he  die? 
die  so  horribly,  and  all  alone?  Would  no  one 
come  to  him  ?  He  could  not  perish  so  !  He 


A    JOKE    CARRIED    TOO    FAR.     51 

must  escape  !  and  struggling  frightfully,  he 
awakened  from  his  dreadful  dream  to  the 
cruel  reality. 

Even  in  his  terror  he  knew  the  voice  of 
Nelson,  and  heard  him  muttering  savage- 
ly, "You'll  get  me  another  caning,  perhaps, 
you  little  milksop."  And  then  the  cowardly 
boy  laughed  derisively  at  Herbert's  violent 
efforts  to  free  himself. 

Meaning  only  to  frighten  him,  he  was  so 
occupied  in  enjoying  poor  Herbert's  terror, 
that  he  withheld  the  boy's  breath  longer  than 
he  himself  had  any  idea  of  doing.  So  it 
happened  that  in  his  blind  passion  he  did  not 
see  that  the  child's  agonizing  struggles  be- 
came fainter  and  fainter,  and  not  till  the 
poor  tortured  body  settled  rigidly,  and  OIM*. 
convulsive  shudder  alone  disturbed  it,  was 
Nelson  aware  of  the  great  mischief  that  he 
had  done. 

Horrified,  he  withdrew  his  guilty  hand. 
One  low  moan  escaped  the  sufferer,  and 
then  a  terrible  silence  ensued,  broken  only 


52  H  E  K  B  ,E  It  T  . 

by  Nelson's  subdued  breathing,  as  he  stood, 
guilty  and  horror-stricken,  beside  poor  Her- 
bert's breathless  form. 

Slowly  he  turned  away.  A  dull  sense  of 
having  done  something  dreadfully  wicked, 
and  for  which  he  must  be  punished  with  aw- 
ful severity,  mingled  in  his  mind  with  horror 
of  his  own  wretched  cruelty,  remorse  for  the 
deed,  and  a  sudden  agonizing  sense  of  pity 
for  Herbert. 

He  laid  his  throbbing  head  upon  Herbert's 

f  breast  to  listen  for  a  heart-beat  to  belie  his 

fears.     But  all  was  still.     His  hand  came  in 

sudden  contact  with  the  face,  cold  and  rigid 

as  in  death. 

"  O,  I  am  a  murderer,  a  murderer  !  "  he 
moaned  in  terror,  starting  at  the  touch.  And 
the  next  instant,  with  a  fearful  shriek,  he  had 
burst  from  the  room,  and  fled  from  the  house, 
and  on,  and  on,  until  the  scene  of  his  heart- 
less deed  was  far  behind,  and  he  was  lost  in 
the  darkness. 


LIFE    OR    DEATH.  53 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LIFE    OR    DEATH. 

WARREN  NELSON'S  cry  of  terror 
ringing  through  the  dormitory  in  the 
stillness  of  the  night,  aroused  the  sleeping 
boys. 

Harry  Caruthers,  remembering  his  sus- 
picions of  Nelson,  called  instantly, — 

"Stanley,  Stanley,  are  you  hurt?" 

And  receiving  no  reply,  he  hastened,  with 
trembling  fingers,  to  strike  a  light. 

In  Mr.  Kaine's  far-off  study,  that  shriek  of 
despair  had  also  penetrated.  He  hurried  to 
No.  7,  joined  by  the  monitor,  who  said  from 
there  the  cry  proceeded.  They  entered  the 
room  just  as  Harry  flashed  the  candle-light 
upon  Herbert's  purple,  swollen  face. 


54  HERBERT. 

"  Good  Heavens  !  "  cried  the  master,  start- 
ing back  in  horror,  "  who  has  done  this  atro- 
cious deed?" 

Then,  without  waiting  an  answer,  he  took 
poor  Herbert's  lifeless  form  in  his  arms,  and 
carried  it  to  his  own  room,  where  the  doctor, 
summoned  by  a  monitor,  directly  joined  him, 
but  with  a  hopeless  face. 

Arthur,  white  and  terror-stricken,  pleaded 
to  be  allowed  to  remain,  when  the  other  boys 
were  sent  back  to  their  rooms. 

"He  is  my  cousin  !  he  is  my  cousin  !"  he 
kept  saying-  piteousfy,  in  a  dull,  aching  tone. 

And  Mr.  Kaine,  in  pity,  let  him  stay. 

"  Sumner,"  said  he,  sternly,  to  the  monitor, 
"go  to  No.  7,  and  learn  what  you  can  of  this 
sad  affair." 

And  Sumner  went.  But  all  that  he  could 
learn  was  of  Nelson's  muttered  threats  to 
"give  that  mean  little  Yankee  a  good  scar- 
ing," and  that  Nelson  was  missing. 

Which  two  simple  facts  seemed  to  point 
out  the  guilty  one. 


SUSPENSE.  55 

Shivering  with  fear,  and  horrified  as  they 
well  might  be,  the  boys  of  No.  7  clustered 
together,  and  talked,  in  breathless  under- 
tone, of  the  dreadful  event. 

AH  sympathized  with  Herbert,  and  all 
denounced  the  guilty  Nelson. 

"I  wouldn't  be  in  his  shoes  for  all  his 
l&nds  and  money,"  said  Cyclops,  the  old  por- 
ter, coming  in  to  bring  them  a  light.  "  Just 
think  of  him,  young  gentlemen,  prowling 
and  skulking,  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  afraid 
to  show  his  head,  and  always  fancying  the 
hangman's  rope  around  his  neck." 

"Has  —  has  —  any  one  gone  for  him?" 
asked  Harry  Caruthers,  with  a  shudder. 

"  Yes ;  Mr.  Kaine  sent  runners  out  di- 
rectly. Dr.  Russell  has  come  over  from  the 
Lodge,  and  brought  a  surgeon  from  London, 
who  happened  to  be  there,"  answered  the 
old  man. 

"Do  they  think  —  is  it  of  any  use?" 
sobbed  Ulric  Carr,  a  mere  child  of  eight, 
who  was  Warren's  cousin. 


56  HERBERT. 

"  Mr.  Kaine  feared  he  was  dead  when  he 
picked  him  up  in  here." 

"O,  it  is  too  bad!  it  is  too  bad!  he  was 
such  a  nice,  good  boy,"  groaned  another. 

There  was  a  movement  in  the  hall  outside, 
and  Arthur  entered  the  room.  Even  in  that 
dim  light  the  boys  could  see  his  face,  white 
and  drawn,  and  full  of  dread. 

"Is  he?  —  is  he?"  —  asked  Harry,  .with 
imploring  face,  afraid  to  finish  his  question. 

Arthur  answered  slowly. 

"  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  a  physician  from 
London,  is  there.  He  says  Herbert  is  alive ; 
but  —  " 

"What?  what?     O,  what?" 

"He  is  afraid,"  continued  Arthur,  with  a 
great  sob,  "he  will  either  die  or  be  an  idiot." 

All  were  silent.  Consternation  at  Her- 
bert's awful  fate  held  each  boy  spell-bound. 

Ulric  Carr,  the  little  fellow  who  had  ques- 
tioned the  porter,  pressed  close  against  Harry, 
shivering  with  fear,  and  scarcely  daring  to 
draw  his  breath. 


A    PRAYER    FOR    HERBERT.       57 

Harry  put  "his  arm  around  the  child,  and 
with  bowed  head,  moved  his  white  lips  in  a 
mute  prayer  for  Herbert ;  and  the  little  lad 
beside  him,  who  by  the  sneers  and  taunts  of 
the  older  boys,  had  been  kept  from  asking 
the  good  Lord's  blessing,  folded  his  hands, 
and  with  a  penitent  sob  followed  Harry's 
example.  And  of  all  the  prayers  that  were 
offered  up  that  night,  perhaps  none  were 
more  acceptable  to  the  good  Lord  than  the 
heartfelt,  contrite,  sobbing  petition  of  Ulric 
Carr,  who  prayed  for  Herbert's  life  and 
Warren's  forgiveness. 

Meanwhile,  over  the  telegraph  wires  were 
flashing  the  tidings  which  would  bring  piti- 
ful sorrow  to  Herbert's  home.  But  after  the 
message  was  sent,  and  the  London  physician 
had  departed,  Herbert  showed  signs  of  great 
improvement.  Dr.  Burrill,  the  college  physi- 
cian, did  not  agree  with  Sir  Matthew's  opin- 
ion ;  and  as  if  to  prove  his  wisdom,  Herbert 
recognized  him,  and  spoke,  feebly,  but  not 
unnaturally. 


58  HERBERT. 

"Where  am  I?     What  is  the  matter?" 

Dr.  Burrill  bent  over  him,  answering  kind- 
ly, "  In  Mr.  Kaine's  study.  You  have  been 
hurt.  Do  you  feel  any  pain  now?" 

"Yes,  doctor,"  answered  Herbert,  wearily, 
"  here."  And  he  raised  his  hands  to  his  head 
and  chest. 

"I  will  relieve  you,"  said  Dr.  Burrill, 
hopefully  ;  "  and  now,  my  boy,  you  must  be 
perfectly  quiet.  Sleep,  if  you  can  ;  but  -do 
not  speak." 

Herbert  closed  his  eyes  obediently,  and 
was  soon  slumbering  quietly. 

Dr.  Burrill  signified  his  intention  of  re- 
maining with  him  through  the  night,  and  Mr. 
Kaine  kindly  went  around  to  No.  7,  to  tell  the 
boys  their  room-mate  was  much  better  than 
they  had  dared  to  hope  for ;  that  he  had  rec- 
ognized the  doctor,  and  spoken  sensibly,  and 
if  he  continued  to  improve,  might  be  with 
them  again  in  a  few  days. 

"And  need  I  urge,"  he  continued,  some- 
what severely,  "need  I  urge  again,  after 


LIFE     OH     D  E.A  T  H  .  59 

this  shocking  barbarity,  that  the  system  of 
hazing  and  tricking  new  boys  may  be  dropped, 
in  my  house  at  least !  " 

f*O,  Mr.  Kaine  !  "  exclaimed  Harry,  ear- 
nestly, "  we  none  of  us  knew  it ;  we  would 
not  have  allowed  it." 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  master,  "  I  believe 
you.  But  this  new  boy  seems  to  have  had  a 
harsh  reception  here.  His  first  greeting  at 
the  school  was  a  cowardly  taunt  of  being 
a  Yankee,  and  then  he  was  forced  into  a 
fight,  and  afterwards  nearly  murdered.  Dr. 
Burrill  says  even  now  his  life  and  senses 
hang  upon  a  thread.  And  now,  young  gen- 
tlemen, I  have  this  to  say  :  I  have  travelled 
largely  in  America,  and  the  Yankee  boys  of 
Xcw  England  are  brave,  intelligent,  honest, 
gentlemanly  boys,  with  families  and  fortunes 
as  good  as  your  own.  I  hope  you  will  re- 
member this  when  we  again  have  one  among 
our  number." 


60  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
NELSON'S  FLIGHT. 

OLD  Madame  Conaut  went  out  into  her 
barn  to  give  the  Jersey  cow  her  break- 
fast. 

"  Santa  Marie!"  she  exclaimed,  crossing 
herself,  as  she  stumbled  over  something  in 
the  haymow  ;  and  up  went  her  two  hands  in 
excess  of  wonderment,  as  she  found  her 
stumbling-block  was  a  sleeping  boy. 

Stretched  upon  the  hay,  his  clothes  soiled 
and  tumbled,  his  hair  wet,  and  thrown  back 
from  his  hot,  troubled  brow,  worn  and  terror- 
stricken  even  in  his  sleep,  lay  Warren  Nel- 
son. 

Not  fifty  miles  from  Madame  Conaut's 
door  Nelson  Park  lay  smiling  in  the  morn- 


NELSON'S  FLIGHT.  —  Page  60. 


WAKKEN    NELSON.  61 

ing  sun,  and  within  its  stately  mansion-house 
servants  were  moving,  who  would  have 
looked  with  disgust  upon  the  humble  straw- 
bed  where  rested  the  weary  lad,  and  would 
never  have  imagined  that  there  lay  their 
young  master,  whose  slightest  tone  of  dis- 
pleasure could  lose  them  their  places. 

And  old  General  Nelson,  the  father  of  the 
unfortunate  youth,  would  have  bowed  his 
haughty  head  low  in  the  dust  could  he  have 
seen  his  idolized  and  only  child  fleeing  in 
terror  from  the  murderous  work  of  his  own 
hands. 

Poor  Warren  !  No  mother's  gentle  words 
of  guiding  love  had  ever  sounded  in  his  ears. 
No  one  had  ever  talked  to  him  of  the  sin  of 
pride  and  waywardness.  He  had  been  al- 
lowed to  kick  his  dogs  and  horses,  and  strike 
his  servants  ;  to  order  things  done  or  undone  ; 
and  his  temper  had  been  given  unlimited 
sway,  with  the  mistaken  idea  that  it  would 
make  him  brave  and  fearless. 

Yet   now,  as   old  Madame  Conaut  knelt 


62  HERBERT. 

above  him,  murmuring  tenderly,  "Poor  lad, 
poor  lad  !  "  he  opened  his  eyes  upon  her, 
with  a  look  of  such  abject  terror,  that  the 
old  woman  instantly  exclaimed,  — 

"  Never  fear,  lad  ;   I  will  keep  ye  safe." 

He  gave  a  thankful  sigh  of  relief. 

"Don't  ask  me  who  I  am,  or  what  I  have 
done,"  said  he,  with  a  shudder  ;  "  and  if  they 
come  for  me,  don't,  O,  don't  give  me  up  !  " 

"  Never  fear ;  I'll  keep  ye.  And  will  ye 
stay  wi'  me  when  Jim  goes  across  the  sea  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  Warren,  suddenly  :  "I'll 
go  with  him." 

"  But  the  money,  the  money !  "  said  Ma- 
dame, aghast  at  this  sudden  purpose. 

"  I've  money  enough  to  take  me  out  of 
England.  When  is  he  going?"  answered 
Warren,  his  old  haughty  manner  returning 
as  he  spoke. 

"To-morrow,  sir,"  she  answered,  insensi- 
bly growing  more  respectful,  yet  full  of  won- 
dering pity. 

Warren  Nelson  drew  forth  his  handsome 
gold  watch. 


DEPARTURE    FOR    FRANCE.      63 

"Keep  this,"  said  he,  laying  it  in  her 
hands  ;  "I  give  it  to  you.  Now  I  want  some 
bread,  and  a  hat  to  wear,  and  then  I  will  fol- 
low Jitu." 

"I'll  not  take  yer  watch,  lad,"  she  said, 
giving  it  back  ;  "  and  you're  welcome  to  food, 
as  we  have  it,  and  I'll  give  ye  the  hat.  But 
I'm  not  sure  as  it's  right  to  let  ye  go  to 
France  without  the  word  to  yer  mother." 

"  I  have  no  mother,"  interrupted  Warren.- 
"I'll  write  to  my  father  when  I  get  there,  and 
I'll  tell  him  to  repay  you  if  you'll  be  kind  to 
me." 

"Why  don't  ye  go  home  to  yer  father, 
lad?"  said  she,  simply. 

"No,"  replied  Warren,  starting  up  sud- 
denly, —  and  the  terrified  look  returned  to 
his  eyes, — "I  can  only  go  away.  If  you 
will  not  help  me,  I  must  go  alone." 

"  Well,  well,  child,  if  ye  write  to  yer 
father  when  ye  get  there.  France  is  not  so 
far  away,  and  Jim  will  stand  by  ye." 

So  it  was  arranged,  and  Jim  Conaut  left 


64  H  E  li  B  E  It  T  . 

England,  and  entered  France,  accompanied 
by  General  Nelson's  son. 

The  old  general,  at  home  in  his  richly 
furnished  library,  sat  with  his  head  bowed 
upon  his  folded  arms,  trying  to  get  over  the 
shock  he  had  received  upon  hearing  the  ac- 
count of  his  son's  cruel  deed,  and  subsequent 
flight  from  Eton. 

"It  is  all  my  fault,"  he  kept  saying  to 
himself.  "  I  never  taught  the  lad  to  control 
himself.  O,  my  boy,  why  do  you  not  come 
to  me  ?  " 

And  why  did  he  not  ? 

He  thought,  poor  lad,  that  he  had  been 
guilty  of  actual,  though  unintentional  mur- 
der ;  and  from  the  consequences  of  that  he 
knew  his  father  had  no  power  to  protect 
him. 

General  Nelson  sent  all  over  the  country, 
east,  west,  north,  and  south,  for  his  missing 
son.  Large  rewards  were  offered  for  infor- 
mation respecting  him,  and  advertisements 
posted  around  in  different  towns,  urging  him 


SEARCH    FOR    WARREN.  65 

to  return,  and  promising  him  kind  treatment. 
All  was  of  no  avail. 

The  boy's  heavenly  Father  was  directing 
his  steps,  and  teaching  him  lessons  of  humil- 
ity and  love  that  he  would  never  have 
learned  in  his  English  home. 


66  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HERBERT   PLEADS   FOR   WARREN. 

HERBERT  was  ill  for  a  couple  of  weeks 
only,  recovering  rapidly,  and  ''  having 
quite  a  nice  time  of  it  too,"  as  he  declared, 
for  his  grandfather  and  Adele  came  down 
from  Ennisfellen  to  take  care  of  him  ;  and 
Morton,  Arthur,  Harry,  and  little  Ulric 
Carr  spent  all  their  spare  time  in  his  room. 

Mrs.  Kaine  had  kept  him  in  the  quiet 
part  of  the  house,  and  sat  with  him  a  great 
deal. 

Herbert,  and  Adele  too,  used  to  fancy  she 
was  like  their  own  mamma,  and  loved  to  be 
with  her.  She  would  tell  them  stories  of  her 
girlhood  ;  read  to  them,  and  always  liked  to 
hear  of  Ennisfellen,  and  their  pets,  of  Her- 


KINDNESS.  67 

bert's  home  in  America,  of  Adele's  strange 
history,  and  of  the  grand  old  Castle  Wer- 
nier,  in  Germany,  where  the  happy  summer 
months  had  been  passed. 

Adele,  the  loving,  gentle  little  child, 
could  not  do  enough  for  her  dear  brother. 
She  was  interested  for  his  sake  in  everything 
pertaining  to  school  life,  and  under  Mrs. 
Kaine's  kind  supervision,  made  him  a  hand- 
some blue  velvet  cap,  ornamented  with  silver 
embroidery  and  tassels,  to  be  worn  at  foot- 
ball, in  which  Herbert  fondly  hoped  to  dis- 
tinguish himself  before  long. 

And  while  the  cap  was  in  course  of  com- 
pletion, many  were  the  gentle  admonitions 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Mrs.  Kaine,  in  so 
pleasant  a  way  that  they  seemed  like  stories 
to  be  treasured  in  the  mind,  rather  than  pre- 
cepts, bits  of  good  advice,  and  little  lectures 
on  morals  and  manners. 

Although  she  said  nothing,  of  course, — for 
she  could  not,  —  in  defence  of  Warren  Nel- 
son's cowardly  attack  upon  Herbert,  she  led 


G8  HERBERT. 

the  children  insensibly  to  pity  the  poor  mis- 
guided youth. 

And  her  gentle  influence  led  Herbert  to 
say  to  Dr.  Russell,  in  the  early  part  of  his 
illness,  — 

"  One  thing  I  want  to  ask  of  you,  sir,  if 
you  please." 

"And  that?  my  dear  boy,"  said  the  head 
master  kindly. 

"If  Nelson  is  found,  sir,  will  you  please 
allow  him  to  return  to  school,  and  take  no 
notice  of  his  offence  ?  " 

''And  do  you  really  wish  it?"  asked  the 
head  master,  with  a  scrutinizing  glance. 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  Plerbert,  earnestly. 

"  Have  you  forgiven  him  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  And  are  you  sure  you  could  set  the  ex- 
ample of  kindness  and  charity?  Could  you 
take  him  by  the  hand  and  say,  ' Be  my  friend'  ? 
and  all  this  without  once  recurring  to  his  ill 
behavior  to  you  ?  " 

"O,  yes,    sir,"  answered    Herbert,   look- 


DR.   RUSSELL'S  ADVICE.       69 

ing,  with  honest,  unflinching  eyes,  straight 
into  Dr.  Russell's  own.  "I  want  it  all  for- 
gotten. And  besides,  sir,"  he  added,  drop- 
ping his  eyes  and  speaking  low,  "I  was  to 
blame  too.  I  was  hasty,  and  that  made  him 
worse." 

"  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath,  but 
grievous  words  stir  up  anger,"  quoted  the 
head  master,  softly.  "  No  words  of  Holy 
Writ  indicate  more  of  the  Christian  spirit 
than  these.  Remember  them,  my  dear  Her- 
bert, in  all  your  intercourse  with  others,  and 
you  will  find  that  you  yourself  will  be  hap- 
pier, and  will  avoid  many  of  those  little 
strifes  and  contentions  which  imbitter  all 
social  intercourse." 

"I  am  pleased  with  your  request,"  he 
continued.  "Warren  shall  return  if  he  wishes, 
and  you,  my  boy,  if  you  will  try,  may  be 
the  means  of  leading  the  haughty,  passionate 
spirit,  kindly  and  gently,  to  the  Source  of 
love  and  peace." 

After  this  Herbert  felt  quite  happy.     He 


70  H  E  U  B  E  R  T  . 

laid  it  to  Dr.  Russell's  kind  words  ;  but  the 
real  cause  was  his  own  kind  feeling  towards 
the  boy  who  had  injured  him. 

"I  wish  he  would  come  back,"  he  often 
said,  and  was  greatly  disappointed  that  no 
news  came  of  him. 

When  he  was  well  enough  to  go  about, 
Adele  led  him  to  his  own  little  study. 

What  a  transformation  ! 

The  modest  straw  carpet  he  had  selected 
was  gone,  and  a  green  Brussels,  with  hand- 
f'uls  of  rose-buds  thrown  down  upon  it,  cov- 
ered the  floor. 

Green  curtains  hung  at  the  windows,  and 
a  table,  covered  with  cloth  of  the  same  color, 
stood  in  a  corner,  under  a  set  of  book- 
shelves, fitted  with  tempting  books.  The 
easy-chair  was  drawn  up  for  him  in  front  of 
the  fire,  but  before  filling  it,  he  peeped  into 
the  closet,  finding  there  excellent  accommo- 
dations for  his  toilet.  He  threw  himself  into 
the  easy-chair,  remarking  in  a  pleased,  satis- 
fied tone, — 


THE    S  TUDY  .  71 

"  Well,  this  is  nice." 

"There  comes  grandpa  with  the  pic- 
tures," exclaimed  Adele.  "And  I  have  a 
present  for  you,  Herbie,"  she  added,  unfold- 
ing to  his  admiring  gaze  a  neat  little  French 
clock. 

"Listen,  now,"  she  cried,  gayly,  holding 
up  the  timepiece  ;  "  hear  it  say,  '  Be  good,  be 
good,  be  good,  be  good.''"' 

"Thank  you,  little  sister,"  said  Herbert, 
with  a  laugh.  "I  shall  have  no  excuse  for 
doing  wrong  with  such  a  constant  reminder." 

"And  thank  you,  grandpapa,"  he  contin- 
ued, as  Mr.  Nichols  came  in  with  a  large 
parcel.  "  I  thought  I  had  made  a  nice  enough 
room  of  it,  but  now  it  is  splendid." 

"  I'm  so  glad  you  are  pleased  !*'  cried  Adele, 
dancing  around  ;  "  and  your  cricket  cap  is 
done  too,  Herbie.  How  do  you  like  it?  " 

She  tossed  the  bright  blue  cap  upon  her 
glossy  curls,  and  jantily  poised  her  head  for 
the  cap  to  be  duly  admired.  But  the  golden 
curls  and  fair,  bright,  innocent  face  flushing 


72  HEKBERT. 

beneath  it  claimed  the  whole  meed  of  Her- 
bert's admiration  ;  and  Arthur  Montgomery, 
coming  in  at  the  moment,  received  the  im- 
pression of  his  fair  little  cousin  that  through 
after  years  he  always  retained. 

A  merry  time  they  had  of  it. 

Mr.  Nichols  hung  the  pictures,  which  were 
bright  and  pretty.  Adele  placed  some  knick- 
knacks,  with  Arthur's  help,  upon  the  mantel 
"to  set  it  off,"  as  she  said,  and  laughed  with 
the  others  when  Arthur  asked,  "Where?" 

Mrs.  Kaine  came  in  with  a  bouquet  of 
flowers  from  her  garden,  and  Ulric  Carr,  in 
the  name  of  the  boys  of  No.  7,  placed  upon 
the  table  a  little  silver  vase. 

Lord  Morton  gracefully  expressed  his  re- 
gret that  Herbert's  first  ill  usage  should  have 
been  caused  by  himself,  and  assured  him  of 
the  avowed  sympathy  of  all  the  Etonians. 

Arthur  said  nothing,  but  a  very  expressive 
hug  of  Herbert's  arm  betokened  his  senti- 
ments, and  Harry  Caruthers'  full-moon  face 
beamed  a  happy  smile  upon  all. 


THE    FAREWELL.  73 

Tom  Ward  was  also  there ;  but  the  pres- 
ence of  Mrs.  Kuine,  Adele,  and  Mr.  Nichols 
induced  him  to  be  very  retiring  in  his  deport- 
ment. 

Only  when  Dr.  Burrill  looked  in  upon 
them  to  see  how  his  patient  was,  his  wit 
flashed  out  in  reply,  — 

"  Henceforth  the  patient  must  minister  to  himself, 
Throw  physic  to  the  dogs  :  he'll  none  of  it." 

"Young  man,"  said  the  doctor,  a  little  put 
out,  "you  need  a  quietus." 

"  With  a  bare  bodkin," 

retorted  Tom,  good-naturally,  and  to  every 
body's  amusement. 

The  happiest  day  must  liave  an  end  ;  but 
Herbert  thought  that  day  spent  with  kind 
friends  in  his  cosy  study,  the  shortest  he 
had  ever  known.  It  ended  with  fond  fare- 
well greeting,  and  the  departure  of  Mr. 
Nichols  and  Adele  for  London. 


74  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FOOT-BALL. 

bright  October  days  at  Eton  were 
H      enlivened  by  the  stirring  game  of  foot- 
ball. 

After  the  school  exercises  all  the  students 
would  repair  to  the  field,  and  there  either 
watch  with  breathless  interest  the  exciting 
sport,  or  else  take  part  in  the  game. 

A  lively  scene  was  the  foot-ball  field  in 
the  sunny  afternoons,  especially  when  the 
great  event  of  the  school  year  came  off,  the 
match  between  the  sixth  form  boys  and  the 
school.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  pictu- 
resque effect  of  the  grouping  of  the  various 
bands  of  combatants,  as,  trailing  out  after 
roll  call  in  the  upper  school,  they  proceeded 


FOOT-BALL.  75 

to  strip  for  business  under  the  grand  old 
elms. 

The  sixth  form  boys  wore  striped  red  and 
white  jerseys,  the  school  plain  white,  and 
both  spotless  \vhite  trousers,  and  for  head- 
gear velvet  caps  of  various  tints,  and  trimmed 
with  gold  or  silver  cord. 

Foot-ball  is  essentially  an  English  game, 
and  nowhere  else  played  with  so  much  pluck 
and  zest.  In  his  first  M  match,"  Herbert  fairly 
trembled  with  excitement,  so  eager  to  be  suc- 
cessful, and  knowing  full  well  the  humilia- 
tion of  defeat,  and  the  great  odds  against 
which  he  played. 

For  the  American  game  is  entirely  differ- 
ent from  that  played  at  Eton. 

The  players  were  drawn  up  in  two  lines  : 
the  sixth  fellows,  a  compact  band,  some  forty 
strong,  were  pitted  against  eighty  of  the 
school-boys.  The  ball  was  dropped  on  the 
ground  between  them :  back  of  either  line 
stood  the  "  back  players,"  whose  business  it 
was  to  catch  the  ball  when  first  flun"-  out, 

D  ' 


<  0  II  K  K  U  E  11  T  . 

run  with  it,  and  kick  it  back  again.  When 
a  back  player  misses  his  drop,  that  is,  kicks 
the  ball  along  the  ground,  or  is  collared  in 
the  run,  the  forward  players  step  in  and  the 
hot  work  begins. 

Morton,  Herbert,  Harry,  and  Arthur  were 
all  in  the  game,  Arthur  among  the  back  play- 
ers, and  he  had  promised  Herbert  to  drop 
him  the  ball,  when  he  got  hold  of  it. 

Morton,  who  was  a  splendid  player,  had 
expressed  a  fear  that  his  cousin  would  be  a 
"precious  muff"  in  the  game,  and  the  three 
boys  were  determined  to  convince  him  of  his 
error. 

So  Herbert  watched  the  ball  with  breathless 
interest,  and  when  it  fell  into  Arthur's  hands, 
darted  away,  far  ahead  of  all  the  others, 
made  a  splendid  run,  and  sent  the  ball  spin- 
ning back  to  Harry,  who  sent  it  in  again  to 
Morton,  and  the  young  baron  made  a  bril- 
liant run,  the  three  counting  way  ahead  on 
the  school  side. 


THE     VICTORY.  77 

"  Hurrah  !  hurrah  for  Stanley  ! "  screamed 
the  school. 

"  Who's  that  plucky  little  chap  ?  "  asked  a 
fellow  of  the  sixth. 

"That's  Stanley,  Stanley,  Stanley,"  was 
the  eager  reply  in  a  dozen  voices. 

Herbert  heard  his  name  on  all  sides.  His 
blood  was  up,  every  nerve  thrilled  with  ex- 
citement;  he  grasped  the  ball,  and  darted 
away;  but  this  time  he  was  surrounded,  col- 
lared, and  thrown  down,  and  on  rising,  half 
crushed  to  death,  from  the  bottom  of  a  huge 
pile  of  human  bodies,  he  stood  face  to  face 
with  his  first  "scrimmage,"  and  he  knew.that 
upon  the  manner  in  which  he  acquitted  him- 
self in  that  awful  crisis  would  depend  the 
opinion  his  schoolfellows  would  have  of  his 
pluck  ever  after. 

The  ball  he  had  hugged  closely,  it  being  a 
point  of  honor  not  to  suffer  it  to  be  wrenched 
from  him,  even  when  pressed  to  the  ground. 

The  breathless  boy  had  the  right  to  the 
first  kick  ;  but  the  enforcement  of  this  right 


78  HERBERT. 

entailed  the  terrible  duty  of  facing  the  kicks 
of  the  dozen  or  more  big  fellows  who  con- 
fronted him. 

Here  was  the  true  glory  of  the  game  —  to 
control  the  ball  when  a  dozen  pairs  of  legs 
were  eagerly  "  letting  fly."  Herbert,  who 
still  grasped  his  hardly-won  treasure,  threw 
a  glance  around  like  a  hunted  panther  ;  then 
seeing  and  seizing  the  right  moment,  he 
slipped  through  the  grasp  of  the  excited 
throng,  and  out  into  a  more  open  part  of  the 
field.  Again  he  was  surrounded  and  thrown 
down,  and  again  he  rose,  this  time  with 
his  white  jersey  torn,  dirt-stained,  and  covered 
with  blood  ;  but  again  he  wrenched  himself 
from  the  thick  of  the  scrimmage,  and  hugging 
the  precious  ball  tight  in  his  arms,  ran  with 
and  kicked  it  with  unerring  precision  straight 
over  the  bar. 

His  shins  were  black  and  blue  from  the 
kicks  he  had  received,  and  the  blood  was 
streaming  from  his  nose ;  but  Herbert  was 


TRIUMPH.  79 


only  conscious  of  the  great  glory  of 
ivon  the  game  against  the  sixth. 

And  the  school-boys  !  they  almost  wor- 
shipped the  little  hero.  They  hurrahed  until 
they  were  hoarse.  They  made  a  triumphal 
chair,  and  carried  him  above  their  heads.. 
Lord  Morton  proudly  said  "  my  cousin,"  and 
every  boy  in  the  school  talked  of  "  that  capi- 
tal little  fellow,  Stanley,  the  American  boy.'' 

If  any  excuse  were  needed  for  their  wild 
excitement,  it  might  be  found  in  the  words 
of  the  famous  Duke  of  Wellington,  who, 
surveying  just  such  a  scene  upon  this  very 
field,  remarked,  "It  is  here  the  battle  of  Wa- 
terloo was  fought." 


80  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  X. 

IN    THE    FORM. 

ME.    NO  WELL,    the    master    of   the 
fourth  form,   was   an  excellent  mas- 
ter,   and   his    boys  were   thoroughly  taught. 
It  would  have  gone  hard  with  Herbert  had 
the  master  of  the  Latin   School  at  Bridge- 

O 

port  been  less  faithful  to  his  trust ;  but  as  it 
was,  the  lad  was  well  prepared  for  the  hard 
Greek  and  Latin  lessons  assigned  his  form 
at  Eton. 

He  learned  readily,  and  frequently  sur- 
prised Mr.  Nowell  by  his  brilliant  recitations 
and  flashes  'of  great  mental  power.  A  few 
recitations  sufficed  to  show  how  he  would 
stand  in  the  form ;  and  he  became  as  great 


IN    THE    FORM.  81 

a  favorite  with  his  teachers  as  he  was  with 
the  fellows  of  the  school. 

Tom  Ward,  the  head  of  the  form,  was  a 
happy-go-lucky  sort  of  boy,  who,  whether 
well  prepared  or  not,  always  managed  to 
wriggle  into  a  good  recitation.  The  inge- 
nuity of  his  replies,  the  sudden  surprise  they 
brought,  and  the  patness  of  his  application 
to  a  case,  of  new  and  ludicrous  relations, 
were  peculiarly  pleasing  to  the  master,  after 
listening  to  the  dull,  monotonous,  parrot-like 
recitations  of  some  others  ;  and  he  ha*L  not 
shrewdness  enough  to  detect  the  lad's  motive 
in  bringing  his  ready  wit  to  bear  upon  the 
question  whenever  there  was  a  weak  point  in 
his  recitation. 

Arthur  was  slow  and  sure,  and  Harry 
Caruthers  bright  and  quick,  but  easily  con- 
fused, and  not  always,  therefore,  self-reliant. 

The  rest  of  the  boys  in  the  form,  except- 
ing Brockett,  who  was  good-natured  and 
lazy,  were  noisy,  turbulent  fellows,  regard- 
6 


82  HERBERT. 

ing  Mr.  Nowell  as  their  natural  enemy,  and 
shirking  every  possible  duty. 

Tom,  Arthur,  and  Harry  kept  the  first 
three  seats ;  Brockett  was  somewhere  in  the 
middle  of  the  form ;  and  Herbert  had  been 
placed,  as  is  customary  with  new  boys,  at 
the  foot. 

One  day,  in  the  school-room,  a  folded 
paper  was  passed  from  Ward  to  Brockett, 
exciting  great  mirth  among  all  the  boys 
who  were  privileged  to  see  it.  Herbert, 
who  was  hard  at  work  upon  a  translation, 
made  an  impatient  movement  of  head  and 
hand  when  it  passed  to  him,  and  another 
boy  gained  possession.  Had  Herbert  known 
that  it  was  the  funny  American  song  he  had 
written  out  for  Tom  Ward  the  night  before, 
he  would  have  retained  it ;  but  unconscious 
of  anything  save  a  slight  difficulty  in  his 
lines,  he  studied  on. 

Meanwhile  so  much  disturbance  was  caused 
among  the  boys  by  the  song  that  was  going 
the  rounds,  that  Mr.  Xowell  detected  its 


TEN    LITTLE    NIGGERS.  83 

presence,  and  ordered  it  brought  up  to  the 
desk,  where  he  read,  with  some  amusement, 
the  history  of  the  famous  Ten  Little  Niggers, 
in  Herbert's  writing. 

"Ten  little  niggers  going  out  to  dine, 
One  choked  his  little  self,  and  then  there  were  nine. 

Nine  little  niggers  crying  at  his  fate, 

One  cried  himself  away,  and  then  there  were  eight. 

Eight  little  niggers  slept  until  eleven ; 

One  overslept  himself,  and  then  there  were  seven. 

Seven  little  niggers  cutting  up  sticks, 
One  chopped  himself  in  halves,  and  then  there  were, 
six. 

Six  little  niggers  playing  with  a  hive, 

A  bumble-bee  killed  one,  and  then  there  were  five. 

Five  little  niggers  going  in  for  law, 

One  got  in  chancery,  and  then  there  were  four. 

Tour  little  niggers  going  out  to  sea, 

A  red  herring  swallowed  one,  then  there  were  three."' 

Three  little  niggers  walking  in  the  Zoo, 

A  big  bear  cuddled  one,  and  then  there  were  two. 

Two  little  niggers  sitting  in  the  sun, 
One  got  frizzled  up,  then  there  was  one. 


84  II  E  It  B  E  11  T  . 

One  little  nigger  living  all  alone, 

He  got  married,  and  then  tliere  were  none." 

Mr.  Nowell  was  quite  provoked  that  Her- 
bert —  the  "  good  boy  "  of  the  class  —  should 
set  such  an  example  to  the  others. 

•"Stanley,"  he  called  sharply,  when  he  had 
perused  the  lines,  "you  show  so  great  an 
aptitude  for  verses,  that  you  may  write  me  a 
hundred  lines  of  Herodotus  in  verse." 

"Sir?"  exclaimed  Herbert,  rising  from  his 
seat  with  a  bewildered  look. 

Write  out  a  hundred  lines  in  verse,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Nowell,  testily. 

"  What  for,  sir?"  as'ked  Herbert,  in  a  sur- 
prised tone,  not  meaning  to  be  disrespectful, 
but  because  he  was  utterly  unconscious  of 
any  offence. 

"Because  I  tell  you,"  thundered  Mr. 
Nowell ;  "  and  you  may  take  one  hundred 
more  for  impertinence,  which  I  never  al- 
low." 

Without  a  word  HerberT  took  his  seat. 
He  was  astounde^l  by  the  master's  harsh 


UNJUST    PUNISHMENT.  85 

manner,  which  had  been  uniformly  kind  and 
gentle  to  him ;  and  a  hard,  bitter  feeling 
arose  in  his  heart  against  Mr.  Nowell  for 
unjustly  condemning  him  to  punishment  for 
nothing  at  all,  as  he  thought. 

The  boys,  excepting  Tom  Ward,  knew 
nothing  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case ; 
and  Tom,  whose  one  word  would  have  set 
Herbert  right,  withheld  that^word,  for 
fear  of  losing  his  place  at  the  top  of  the 
form. 

Herbert  knew  he  must  perform  the  obliga- 
tion for  Mr.  Nowell,  but  resolved  to  wait 
until  night,  as  there  was  to  be  a  rowing 
match  with  Morton's  club,  to  which  he  be- 
longed. But  as  he  was  preparing  to  leave 
\he  school-room,  Mr.  Nowell,  wrho  fancied 
that  the  boy  did  not  consider  the  punishment 
properly,  resolved  to  deprive  him  of  his  after- 
noon sport,  and  therefore  said, — 

"Stanley,  you  may  write  out  your  verses 
here,  while  I  am  hearing  the  detentions  and 
overlooking:  exercises." 


86  HERBERT. 

"Yery  well,  sir,"  replied  Jlerbert.  But 
he  felt  hurt  anew  at  this  unjustifiable  deten- 
tion, for  it  was  customary  to  allow  the  extra 
lessons  a  longer  time  ;  indeed,  the  scholars 
generally  suited  their  own  convenience  re- 
garding them. 

So  he  went  out  to  dinner  in  a  very  moody 
frame  of  mind,  not  even  smiling  when  Sam 
Brockett  remarked,  — 

"  What  a  racket  you  boys  keep  up  !  Be 
quiet,  do  :  there's  Stanley  quiet  enough.  He's 
eating  his  dinner  without  opening  his  mouth." 
And  when,  amid  the  roar  of  laughter  which 
followed  this  saying,  Tom  Ward  cried  out,  — 

"  O,  funny  Sam  Brockett! 
Your  wit,  when  you  stock  it, 
Is  bright  as  a  rocket, 

Just  taking  its  start. 
When  slyly  you  cock  it 
At  me,  what  a  shock  it 
Sends  through  my  vest  pocket, 

Right  into  my  heart,"  — 

even    then    Herbert's    gloomy   look    did    not 
relax.     It  took  all  the  afternoon  to  write  out 


EXPLANATIONS.  87 

all  the  lesson^  and  arrange  it  in  verse ;  and 
Herbert,  when  the  merry  voices  came  ring- 
ing up,  was  sorely  tempted  to  rebel.  But  at 
last  the  task  was  finished,  and  the  lines  were 
in  the  master's  hand.  Then  said  Herbert,  — 

"Air.  Novvell,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  .disre- 
spectful ;  but  will  you  please  tell  me,  sir, 
why  I  was  punished." 

"For  writing  comic  songs  in  school,"  re- 
plied the  master,  coldly. 

"But  I  never  did,  sir,"  said  Herbert, 
quickly. 

Mr.  Xowell's  reply  was  to  hand  to  the 
excited  lad  the  version  of  the  little  negroes, 
and  to  inquire  if  it  were  not  his  writing. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  I  copied  it  last  night  in  my 
study.  I  did  not  bring  it  to  school,  and  did 
not  know  it  was  here.  I  copied  it  for  —  " 
He  stopped  himself  just  in  time  to  save  Tom 
AVard  his  place;  but  he  continued,  "Mr. 
Xowell,  the  boy  for  whom  I  wrote  that 
took  it  away  last  night ;  and  he  must  have 
known  that  I  was  punished  for  nothing." 


88  HERBERT. 

"  Who  was  it  ? "  asked  the  master ;  but 
seeing  that  Herbert  disliked  to  tell  him,  he 
added,  "Well,  never  mind.  I  am  sorry  I 
detained  and  punished  you  unjustly.  You 
have  behaved  well,  Stanley  ;  and  now,  in 
token  that  we  are  friends,  will  you  take  a 
drive  with  me?" 

Herbert  was  delighted,  and  ran  for  his 
cap.  Mr.  Nowell  locked  up  the  verses  in 
his  desk,  and  they  afterwards  proved,  un- 
expectedly, of  untold  value  to  their  origi- 
nator. 

The  drive  out  of  town  was  a  pleasant  one. 
Before  their  return  to  Eton  quite  an  exciting 
incident  occurred. 

About  ten  miles  from  home  they  were 
overtaken  .by  a  sudden  .and  violent  shower; 
and  they  drove  into  an  open  barn,  where  a 
Jersey  cow  was  quietly  munching  at  her 
feed. 

Now,  could  the  cow  have  spoken,  she  could 
have  imparted  information  to  the  minds  of 
Herbert  and  his  master  which  would  have 


A     CLEW    AT    LAST.  89 

greatly  relieved  their  anxiety  respecting  War- 
ren Nelson,  for  this  was  the  barn  where  he 
had  slept  after  that  wretched  flight  from 
Eton  ;  and  nothing  had,  as  yet,  been  heard 
from  him  by  his  school  friends,  or  by  the 
broken-hearted  old  general  at  Nelson  Park. 

But  the  cow  could  not  speak,  of  course ; 
she  looked  with  mild-eyed  pity  upon  the  two 
intruders,  and  uttered  a  plaintive  "  moo-oo  " 
for  hay. 

Herbert  gathered  some  from  the  mow, 
and  pitched  it  into  her  feeding-box,  when  a 
handkerchief  fluttered  down  from  the  mow. 
It  was  a  fine  white  handkerchief,  much  nicer 
than  any  occupant  of  the  humble  little  cot- 
tage hard  by  would  be  supposed  to  own  ; 
and  Herbert  remarked  funnily,  that  "the 
cottager's  wife  must  be  very  dainty." 

"But,  hullo  !  "  he  continued,  examining  it ; 
"here's  a  coat  of  arm*;  and  O,  Mr.  Nowell, 
what  does  this  mean? — '  Warren  Nelson.'" 

"  What !  "  cried  the  master,  starting  for- 
ward and  examining  the  mark  upon  the  hand- 


1)0  HERBERT. 

kerchief;  "yes,  it  must  be  his  ;  we  shall  find 
him  now,  Herbert ;  we  have  the  clew  at  last, 
poor  lad  f " 

"O,  I  am  so  glad!  "cried  Herbert.  "I 
have  worried  so  and  fretted  about  him.  .  O, 
Mr.  Nowell,  let  us  go  to  the  cottage  ;  he  may 
be  there." 

So  out  into  the  rain  they  went,  and  to  the 
door  of  Madame  Conaut's  little  house,  where 
Mr.  Nowell  at  once  opened  the  subject  by 
showing  the  handkerchief,  telling  her  how  it 
was  found  by  them  in  her  barn,  and  demand- 
ing information  of  the  missing  boy  in  the 
name  of  the  authorities  of  the  college. 

This  information  the  kind  old  woman  was 
eager  to  give ;  for  Jim's  last  letter  lay  upon 
the  table,  and  Jim  liad  written  that  the 
"chap "that  went  over  to  France  with  him 
was  ill  of  fever,  and  he  feared  he  would  not 
recover  unless  attended  to  by  his  relations. 
"The  truth  is,"  wrote  Jim,  "he  is  of  fine 
folks,  and  labor  don't  suit  him ;  though 
he's  tried  hard  —  I'll  say  that  for  him.  He's 


WA;:UI:X   is   FOUND.  91 

been  ailing  ever  since  AVC  got  here,  and  work- 
ing out  in  the  rain  last  week,  he  got  this 
fever." 

She  showed  this  letter  to  Mr.  Nowell,  who, 
with  a  face  of  great  concern,  asked  for  Jim's 
address  ;  and  getting  it,  and  thanking  Ma- 
darne  Conaut  for  her  kindness  to  the  lad,  he 
sent  Herbert  for  the  horse,  and  they  drove 
off  rapidly  in  the  rain. 

"You  will  go  for  him,  Mr.  No  well  —  will 
you  not?"  asked  Herbert,  excitedly. 

"Yes,  directly.  I  shall  telegraph  to  the 
general  to  meet  us  at  Calais." 

"Us?"  inquired  Herbert,  breathlessly. 

:t  Yes  :  am  I  right  in  thinking  you  would 
like  to  accompany  me  ?  " 

"O,  sir,  thank  you,"  exclaimed  the  lad, 
joyfully  ;  "  but  school ! "  he  added  in  the 
same  breath. 

"Jt  will  not  affect  your  standing,"  replied 
the  master.  "  You  can  easily  make  up  tUfe 
time,  and  I  feel  bound,"  he  added  pleasantly, 


92  HE  RB  E  RT' 

"to  make  some  reparation  for  my  injustice  to 
you  this  morning." 

"  That  was  nothing,  sir ;  and  I  am  so  glad 
of.  it  now  !  If  it  hadn't  been  for  that,  we 
wouldn't  have  found  out  about  Nelson." 

"That  is  it,"  said  Mr.  Nowell,  philosoph- 
ically ;  "  the  trifles  of  our  daily  lives  are  of- 
ten the  most  significant  of  all  circumstances 
affecting  our  future. 

"  The  little  tilings,  scarce  worth  recall, 
Whereof  no  visible  trace  remains, 
These  are  the  main-springs,  after  all." 

They  drove  rapidly  back  to  Eton,  sent 
the  telegram  to  Nelson  Park,  and  hastily 
packing  their  portmanteau,  took  the  night 
train  for  London,  and  the  morning  boat  for 
Calais,  in  France. 


WARRENS    SICK    ROOM.  93 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AT   CALAIS. 

"  "\7~OU  must  tread  softly,  gentlemen,  if 
you  please,"  said  a  pleasant  voice  in 
French ;  and  a  young  girl  led  the  way  to 
Warren  Nelson's  sick  room. 

Mr.  Xowell-  and  Herbert  followed. 

Had  his  heart  been  ever  so  hard  against 
poor  Warren,  Herbert  must  have  relented 
at  the  sight  which  met  his  eyes  ;  but  he  had 
long  ago  forgiven  the  injury,  and  felt  even 
a  strong  affection  for  the  unfortunate  lad, 
whom  he  had  regarded  with  pity  for  so  long 
a  time,  for  "pity  is,"  as  the  poet  sings,  "akin 
to  love." 

So,  gazing  upon  the  emaciated,  fever- 
flushed  lad,  whose  wild  eyes  had  never  lost 


94  HE  R  B  E  R  T  , 

their  terror-haunted  look,  and  listening  to 
his  pitiful  pleadings  for  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness, it  is  no  wonder  that  the  tears  sprang 
unbidden  to  his  eyes.  Kneeling  beside  the 
delirious  boy,  whose  wild  ravings  were  all 
of  Herbert,  he  felt  a  love  for  him  stirring 
within  Tiis  breast,  that  was  greater  even  than 
his  affection  for  Arthur. 

"  O,  Stanley,  Stanley,  I  didn't  mean  to 
harm  you.  I  didn't!  Ididn'tf  It  was  only 
to  frighten  you ;  only  a  joke,  a  joke,"  cried 
the  sick  boy,  again  and  again,  in  pitiful 
pleading  tones. 

"  Never  mind,  Warren  ;  I'm  here,  all  right. 
Don't  you  know  me,  Warren?  I'm  Herbert. 
You  did  no  harm,  after  all,"  Herbert  would 
reply,  in  soothing,  tearful  voice. 

But  Warren  did  not  heed  him  :  he  went 
on  incoherently. 

"  There  is  no  blood  on  my  hand.  You  are 
not  dead,  Stanley,  and  I  am  not  a  —  O, 
father,  father,  you  thought  I  would  be  so 
brave,  and  such  an  honor  to  you  I  poor 


WARREN'S  TERROR.  95 

father  !  They  are  coming  after  me.  Don't, 
don't  give  me  up,  old  woman.  I'll  go  with 
Jim  ;  I'll  give  you  my  watch.  O,  don't  let 
'them  take  me.  Father,  father,  don't  let 
them  ! " 

Poor  Herbert  tried  in  vain  to  soothe  him, 
and  old  General  Nelson,  who  had  arrived, 
and  entered  in  time  to  hear  the  last  of  his 
child's  piteous  ravings,  was  so  troubled  that 
they  were  obliged  to  remove  him  from  the 
room. 

For  days  Warren  lay  in  the  same  uncon- 
scious state,  furious  with  delirium,  and  suf- 
fering so  much  mentally,  that  Dr.  Burrill, 
who  had  come  to  attend  hinj,  deemed  it  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  Herbert  should 
be  at  hand  to  speak  with  him  at  the  first  con- 
scious interval.  Mr.  Nichols  and  Dr.  Rus- 
sell gave  the  desired  permission,  and  Her- 
bert remained  at  Calais  with  the  sick  lad's 
father,  while  Mr.  Nowell  returned  to  Eton. 

General  Nelson  had  been  a  brave  soldier. 
He  was  a  haughty,  proud,  high-spirited  man  ; 


96  HERBERT. 

but  his  son's  calamity  had  broken  his  pride, 
and  the  great  danger  in  which  the  boy  lay 
had  taught  the  arrogant  old  man  that  nei- 
ther self-esteem,  nor  pride,  nor  great  wealth 
would  bring  back  the  idol  of  his  heart  from 
death's  door. 

Herbert's  forgiving  spirit  touched  him  be- 
yond expression  ;  and  the  simple  faith  dis- 
played in  the  lad's  constant  prayers  for  poor 
Warren  brought  him,  at  length  to  implore 
humbly  of  the  great  All  Father,  that  his  sin- 
ful negligence  of  spiritual  welfare  might  not 
be  visited  upon  the  head  of  his  son. 

And  the  good  Lord,  who  always  answers 
prayer,  although  not  always  in  the  way 
which  seems  best  to  our  short  sight,  glad- 
dened the  loving  father's  heart  forever  with 
divine  love. 

For  Warren  did  not  die,  but  was  merci- 
fully spared  for  His  service. 

One  morning,  after  a  night  of  feeble, 
fluctuating  breathing  through  a  deep  sleep, 


RECOVERY.  97 

and  when  even  Herbert  scarcely  dared  to 
hope,  he  awoke  to  consciousness. 

"  Stanley,"  he  murmured  faintly,  looking 
for  the  first  time  with  a  gleam  of  intelli- 
gence, "is  that  you?  I  thought  — '' 

"Yes,  dear  Warren,"  said  Herbert;  and 
trembling  with  gladness,  and  leaning  over 
with  a  look  of  unmistakable  love,  he  pressed 
upon  Warren's  fevered  lips  a  holy  kiss  of 
friendship,  which  was  never  violated. 

And  such  a  happy  expression  of  peace  as 
settled  in  Warren's  eyes,  no  one,  who  saw 
it,  ever  forgot. 

"Father,"  he  murmured,   faintly. 

"My  own  boy,  my  dear,  dear  son!"  ex- 
claimed the  general.  "  The  merciful  Lord 
be  thanked  for  His  goodness;"  and  for  the 
first  time  in  many  years,  the  old  soldier 
yielded  to  his  emotion  and  wept  tears  of 

joy- 
Warren  was  too  wTeak  and   exhausted   to 

talk.      He   fell  asleep    again   directly,    and 
7 


98  HERBERT. 

slept  long  and  quietly,  the-  .great  load  having 
been  removed  from  his  mind. 

When  he  awoke  again,  he  wanted  Her- 
bert ;  and  he  showed  what  a  change  had  come 
over  him  by  begging  the  boy  to  forgive  his 
taunts  in  Mr.  Kaine's  dormitory,  and  his 
nearly  fatal  joke. 

"Don't  ever  think  of  it  again,  Warren," 
said  Herbert,  earnestly;  "you  suffered  the 
roost." 

"I  have  suffered,"  said  "Warren,  earn- 
estly. "I  want  to  see  my  father,  Herbert, 
and  then  I  would  like  you  to  read  to  me." 

What  passed  between  the  lad  and  his 
father  Herbert  never  knew ;  but  half  an 
hour  after,  when  he  entered  the  room,  the 
old  general  sat  on  the  bedside,  supporting 
his  son's  head  upon  his  breast,  and  Warren's 
arms  were  around  his  father's  neck,  in  a 
fervent  clasp,  while  traces  of  tears  were  upon 
the  cheeks  of  both. 

Herbert  stole  softly  away.  A  sense  of 
his  orphan  loneliness  came  over  him,  and  for 


JIM'S   STORY.  99 

the  moment  he  would  gladly  have  changed 
places  with  the  suffering,  penitent  Warren 
for  the  blessing  of  a  father's  love. 

The  sweet-voiced  French  girl  within  the 
house  was  singing  a  Catholic  hymn.  He 
could  not  understand  all  the  words,  but  some- 
how the  little  hymn,  though  not  in  his  own 
creed,  comforted  him  greatly.  He  remem- 
bered the  good  Lord's  promise  to  orphan 
children,  and  how  well  it  had  been  kept  with 
Adele  and  himself. 

From  Jim  they  had  already  learned  how 
Warren  had  set  himself  to  work,  lifting 
heavy  rails,  and  laying  sleepers  for  the  new 
railway,  until  his  delicate  hands  had  be- 
come as  rough  as  Jim's  own  ;  and  how  every 
Sunday  he  had  stolen  around  to  the  little 
English  chapel,  in  Calais,  and  listened  with 
all  his  heart  to  the  words  of  truth  there 
uttered ;  coming  away,  however,  with  the 
same  terrified,  hopeless  look  always  upon 
his  face. 

The  French  woman  and  her  daughter  had 


100  HERBERT. 

been  very  kind  to  him  ;  but  Warren  did  not 
understand  them,  and  would  go  off  alone, 
and  mourn -over  his  misfortunes,  suffering 
excruciating  pain,  meanwhile,  from  the  fever 
that  was  coming  on. 

Now  it  was  all  over.  He  was  getting 
well,  and  had  learned  to  look  for  help  where 
it  is  never  refused.  He  asked  his  father's 
permission  to  give  the  two  French  people, 
and  Jim  and  his  mother,  a  handsome  present, 
'in  token  of  his  gratitude  to  them  —  a  re- 
quest the  old  general  readily  granted. 

For  Herbert  he  felt  warm,  fervent  love, 
which  was  never  obliterated. 

Years  after,  when  he  was  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  he  was  never  tired  of  telling  how 
that  one  boy's  gentle  forgiveness  and  simple 
prayerful  faith  had  influenced  the  lives  of 
himself  and  his  dear  father  for  good. 

"  A  little  leaven  leavens  the  whole." 


GOOD    NEWS.  101 


CHAPTER  XII. 


TOM  WARD  GETS  INTO  TROUBLE. 


'  TTOW  bright  and  pleasant  your  study 
is,   Herbert,"  said  Nelson,  throwing 
himself  into  the  arm-chair,  and  removing  his* 
little    cousin    Ulric    therefrom    to    his    knee. 
"Isn't  this  cold,  frosty  weather?" 

"Never  mind,"  replied  Herbert,  deep  in  a 
letter  from  home.  "  It  brings  Christmas  all 
the  nearer,  and  —  O,  my  !  How  nice  !  How 
splendid!"  he  added,  flushing  with  excite- 
ment, and  reading  aloud  —  "'You  may  in- 
vite to  Etinisfellen,  for  the  Easter  holidays^ 
your  cousins,  and  any  other  four  boys  you 
may  wish  to  have  with  you.'  Isn't  that  glo- 
rious?" 

"  Perfectly  !  "  assented  Warren  ;  while  the 


102  HERBERT. 

book  fell  from  little  Ulric's  hands,  and  he 
listened  with  breathless  interest. 

"Let  me  see,"  continued  Herbert;  "there's 
Morton  and  Arthur,  Harry  Caruthers,  you, 
of  course,  Warren,  and  Ulric  there." 

"O,  Stanley,"  exclaimed  the  little  boy, 
"you  are  so  kind  !  " 

«  And  Tom  Ward." 

"I'll  be  delighted,  if  my  father  can  spare 
me,"  said  Warren,  gleefully  ;  for  the  boys 
tad  heard  too  much  of  the  delightful  pleas- 
ures of  Ennisfellen  not  to  be  half  wild  over 
the  prospect  of  being  there. 

Arthur  had  been  on  the  continent  with  his 
father  for  a  few  weeks,  and  had-  not  yet  re- 
turned, but  was  expected  daily.  Morton, 
who,  between  Arthur,  Herbert,  Harry,  and 
Warren  Nelson,  had  become  quite  an  agree- 
able companion,  was  pleased  with  the  idea, 
and  Harry  Caruthers  walked  all  around  the 
school  yard  on  his  hands  with  his  heels  in 
the  air,  to  work  off  the  excitement  caused  by 
contemplating  such  a  prospect.  And  Tom 


STRANGE     BEHAVIOR.  103 

Ward,  who  was  the  lively,  funny  boy  of  the 
class,  how  did  he  receive  the  good  news? 
In  a  very  strange  way ;  but  before  hearing  it 
he  was  in  a  stranger  mood  still. 

Among  the  prizes  to  be  awarded  at  the 
end  of  the  term  was  one  for  a  translation  of 
Greek  verses  ;  and  it  happened  to  be  a  prize 
which  Ward  was  very  anxious  to  gain.  Ar- 
thur, had  been  so  long  absent  that  Tom  did 
not  fear  his  competition.  Harry,  he  was 
sure,  could  not  do  so  well,  and  Nelson  wag 
in  a  higher  form. 

But  Herbert  would  try  for  the  prize,  and 
try  hard,  and,  notwithstanding  his  absence  in 
France,  would  probably  get  it ;  for  Herbert's 
knowledge  upon  the  subject  was  much  clear- 
er and  more  thorough  than  his  own. 

He  had  brooded  over  this  idea  for  some 
time,  and  at  length  came  to  the  decision, 
that  somehow,  by  hook  or  by  crook,  Her- 
bert's theme  should  be  destroyed.  He  knew 
this  could  not  be  done  honestly,  but  did  not 
care  for  that ;  he  felt  hard  towards  Herbert 


104  HERBERT. 

for  contesting  his  place  at  the  top  of  the 
form,  and  especially  hard  because  Mr.  No- 
well  had  selected  the  prize  poem  from  the 
very  lines  which  Herbert  had  once  before 
written  out  for  detention. 

In  vain  Herbert  said  he  had  not  the  lines, 
and  did  not  know  what  had  become  of  them. 
Tom  persisted  that  it  was  not  fair,  and  that 
Mr.  Nowell  only  did  it  to  spite  him. 

Before  receiving  Herbert's  invitation,  he 
had  decided  to  watch  his  opportunity,  and, 
just  before  examination,  to  abstract  the 
theme  from  Herbert's  desk,  when  it  would 
be  too  late  to  write  another. 

When  Herbert  came  up  with  his  letter, 
and  tendered  a  laughing,  happy  request  for 
Tom's  presence,  his  rude  reply  was,  — 

"  No,  thank  you  ;  I've  a  better  place  of  my 
own." 

"  Well,  I  declare  !  "  exclaimed  Herbert, 
completely  taken  aback,  and  adding  angrily, 
"You  might  at  least  be  civil,  Ward." 

"Don't  put  on  so  many  airs,  Stanley,"  re- 


WRONG    STEPS.  105 

turned  Tom,  aggravatingly.  "Other  fellows 
have  got  places  as  well  as  you,  and  I've  been 
obliged  to  refuse  a  number  of  invitations." 

"You'll  never  have  a  chance  to  refuse 
another  of  mine,  "  said  Herbert,  turning  on 
his  heel,  and  walking  away.  His  feelings 
were  deeply  wounded,  and  Tom  Ward's  con- 
science was  rather  troublesome  than  other- 
wise. 

Morton,  when  he  learned  of  it  all,  was 
more  indignant  than  Herbert  himself,  and 
became  so  very  cool  in  his  manner  to  Tom, 
that  the  latter  avoided  the  company  of  the 
whole  "Stanley  crew,"  as  he  called  the 
friends  of  Herbert  and  his  cousin. 

He  looked  anxiously  forward  for  Arthur's 
return,  intending  to  see  him  first ;  but  al- 
though he  accomplished  this  part  of  his  de- 
sign, Arthur  took  up  his  cousin's  side,  and, 
driven  from  his  best  friends,  Tom  mixed  ex- 
clusively with  a  set  of  riotous  boys,  who, 
glad  to  have  him  with  them,  encouraged 
his  ill  feeling  towards  his1  former  compan- 


106  HERBERT. 

ions,  and  did  all  they  could  to  augment  the 
quarrel. 

Herbert  had  a  kind,  forgiving  disposition, 
and  after  the  first  blaze  of  feeling,  would  have 
readily  made  it  all  up  ;  but  this  Tom's  new 
faction  would  not  allow.  So,  after  resolving 
to  seize  the  first  opportunity  of  making 
friends  with  him,  Herbert  devoted  all  his 
spare  time  to  the  subject  for  the  prize. 

Ulric  was  his  fag,  and  had  the  run  of  his 
study,  and  Arthur  and  Harry  usually  studied 
there,  while  Morton  and  Warren  Xelson — 
now  fast  friends  —  would  drop  in  for  a  chat 
about  as  often  as  was  desirable,  considering 
the  amount  of  "  cramming "  to  be  done  be- 
fore the  term  closed. 

The  Christmas  holidays  came  and  went, 
and  the  boys,  after  flying  visits  to  their 
homes,  returned  again,  with  lively  accounts 
of  their  festivities,  and  new  vigor  with  which 
to  resume  their  studies. 

It  happened  that,  in  one  of  the  first  lessons 
taken  up  early  in  the  new  year,  a  discussion 


SUSPENDED    ANIMATION.       107 

arose  in  the  form  about  "  suspended  anima- 
tion," and  Mr.  Nowell  requested  the  boys  to 
learn  all  they  could  outside  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  bring  it  in  with  their  next  lesson. 

Sam  Brockett  and  one  or  two  others 
were  growling  over  this  requirement,  not 
having  the  vaguest  idea  where  to  seek  the 
desired  information,  and  concluded  to  get 
Tom  Ward  to  learn  it  for  them.  For  Tom's 
champions,  deeming  him  "awfully  clever," 
bothered  him  continually  for  help  upon  this 
and  that ;  and  he,  being  in  an  unhappy  state 
of  mind  on  account  of  his  wicked  intentions 
respecting  Herbert's  theme,  was  driven  al- 
most to  desperation. 

"Suspended  animation?  Well,  you  are 
muffs  !  Go  and  look  up  mummies,"  said  he, 
when  they  sought  him  in  his  study,  and  in- 
terrupted a  brilliant  passage  he  was  working 
out  in  his  verses. 

"New  do  be  pleasant,  Tom  :  you're  getting 
so  glum  lately,  there's  no  pleasure  in  being 
friends  with  you,"  said  Sam,  lazily. 


108  •    HERBERT. 

"  And  do  tell  us  all  about  it ;  'twill  save 
us  so  much  trouble,  you're  so  clever,  you 
know,"  said  Chester,  another  boy,  coaxingly. 

"I'll  never  get  rid  of  them  until  I  tell 
them  something,  and  I'll  just  give  them  a 
dose,"  thought  Tom  to  himself. 

"Suspended  animation,"  he  began,  "may 
be  illustrated  by  mummies.  The  Egyptians 
possessed  the  secret,  and  made  mummies 
which  would  sleep  for  a  thousand  years  or 
so,  and  then  could  be  resuscitated,  when  they 
could  disclose  everything  that  had  happened 
before  they  were  done  up  as  mummies.  In 
this  way  their  legends  were  preserved  and 
handed  down." 

"  How  curious  !  "  exclaimed  the  boys,  with 
credulous  eyes  and  wide  open  mouths  tak- 
ing in  these  startling  facts. 

"Yes,  "  continued  Tom,  decidedly  amused 
at  the  sensation  he  was  creating. 

"  '  There  are  more  tilings  in  heaven  .and  earth,  Horatio, 
Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy.'  " 

"Never  mind  all  that,"  said  a  boy  whose 


AN    ABSURD    HOAX.  109 

mind  could  not  take  in  Shakespeare ;  "  go  on 
with  your  mummying." 

"The  secret  process  by  which  suspended 
animation  was  secured,  continued,  and  in- 
terrupted at  pleasure  is  now  lost  to  us,  more's 
the  pity.  Were  it  not  so,  we  might  awaken 
the  mummies  in  our  British  Museum,  and 
hear  astounding  revelations  of  the  past." 

"  That  will  do  for  me,"  exclaimed  Brock- 
ett,  who  of  course  did  not  believe  a  word  of 
it ;  and  he  sauntered  off  to  gain  more  reliable 
information  from  the  college  library. 

But  the  boys  who  remained  begged  Tom 
to  continue  ;  so  he  went  on. 

"  We  have  no  means  of  discovering  this 

O 

mysterious  power ;  but  in  some  parts  of 
America  they  have  something  which  does 
as  well  as  the  ancient  mummy  for  an  en- 
cyclopaedia. The  climate  there  is  so  dry, 
that  in  many  parts  of  the  country  people 
never  die,  but  shrivel  all  up ;  and  then  the 
others  hang  them  up  in  a  warm,  dry  place, 
where  they  rest  undisturbed  until  some  one 


110  HERBERT. 

wants  information  of  the  time  in  which  they 
lived.  Then  they  are  taken  down  and 
dipped  in  oil,  when  they  come  to  life,  an- 
swer the  questions,  and  are  dried  and  hung 
up  again.  And  it  was  in  relation  to  this 
custom  that  the  slang  phrase,  '  You  dry  up,' 
originated." 

"Now,  Ward,"  cried  Chester,  petulantly, 
"you  don't  expect  us  to  believe  all  that  stuff." 

"If  you  don't  believe  it,  go  and  look  it 
up,"  answered  Tom,  smiling  grimly,  who 
knew  very  well  the  lazy  boy  would  never 
take  the  trouble. 

So  Chester  allowed  his  suspicion  of  "a 
sell "  to  die  within  his  breast,  and  the  next 
day,  in  school,  amid  roars  of  unchecked 
laughter,  the  form  heard  these  startling  rev- 
elations of  ancient  Egyptian  and  modern 
American  customs  ;  and  from  that  day  to 
the  end  of  their  school  lives,  the  lads  whom 
Tom  Ward  had  hoaxed  so  easily  were  nick- 
named "  the  mummies." 

They  were  furious  with  Tom,  of  course. 


IN    DISGRACE.  Ill 

They  whipped  him,  and  "cut  him  dead,"  and 
annoyed  him  in  every  conceivable  way. 
Tom  fell  into  disgrace  with  Mr.  No  well,  who 
reproved  him  severely  for  thus  misusing  his 
talents  and  abusing  the  confidence  of  his 
schoolfellows. 

But  poor  misguided  Tom  did  not  im- 
prove. He  worked  hard  over  his  lessons, 
but  in  all  other  ways  seemed  possessed  with 
mischief,  and  was  continually  in  trouble. 

Warren  Xelson  tried  hard  to  help  him  to 
the  right  path  from  which  he  was  wandering 
so  far,  and  Harry  often  attempted  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation  with  Herbert;  but 
Tom  was  not  quite  so  bad  as  to  pretend  a 
friendship  where  he  intended  to  do  an  injury, 
and  allowed  himself  to  think  the  meanness 
of  his  act  would  not  be  quite  so  apparent 
if  Herbert  were  his  open  enemy. 

Alas,  poor  Tom  !  He  had  forgotten  all 
about  the  Golden  Rule. 


112  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE    MISSING    THEME. 


T^HE  day  before  the  Greek  verses  were 
handed  in  for  examination,  Herbert 
looked  carefully  over  his  paper  for  the  last 
time,  tied  it  neatly  with  blue  ribbon,  and 
laid  it  away  in  his  writing-desk. 

"  We're  going  up  the  river,"  said  Morton, 
looking  into  the  room  ;  got  your  verses  done  ?" 

"Yes,  "said  Herbert,  holding  them  up  to 
view,  and  then  laying  them  away  again,  and 
closing  his  desk. 

"  Then  come  with  us,"  urged  Morton  ;  "it'll 
be  the  last  chance  this  year,  or  this  term,  at 
least." 

"I'm  all  ready,"  answered  Herbert.  "Mor- 
ton, I  do  so  want  to  get  a  double  remove  !  " 


THE     LITTLE    PEACEMAKER.        113 

"You'll  get  it,  fast  enough,"  said  his 
cousin,  confidently;  "why,  Arthur  says  Mr. 
No  well  never  had  such  a  scholar,  and  if  you 
hadn't  gone  to  Calais,  you'd  be  in  the  fifth 
now." 

Morton  had  never  spoken  so  warmly,  and 
Herbert  grasped  his  hand  with  a  squeeze 
which  was  intended  to  express  his  gratitude. 

They  walked  arm  in  arm  to  the  boat 
house,  Herbert  thinking  how  much  Arthur 
had  influenced  the  young  lord,  and  never 
dreaming  that  his  own  example  had  been  a 
source  of  great  help  to  him. 

Scarcely  had  they  left  the  study  when 
Tom,  who  had  long  waited  the  opportunity, 
stole  into  the  room,  abstracted  Herbert's  pre- 
cious paper  from  the  desk,  which  was  un- 
locked, and  carried  it  off  to  his  own  room. 

Little  Ulric  Carr,  knowing  how  Herbert 
secretly  mourned  Tom's  lost  friendship,  had 
determined  to  make  peace  between  them, 
and  had  gone  around  to  Tom's  room  with 
that  worthy  object  in  view  :  the  kind- 
8  ' 


114  HERBERT. 

hearted  little  fellow  loved  Herbert  dearly, 
and  was  very  fond  of  Tom,  too,  who  hud 
good-naturedly  helped  him  with  his  lessons 
very  often,  and  was  always  ready  with  a 
merry  story  or  a  funny  song  to  charm  away 
the  child's  homesick  turns.  So  his  heart 
beat  high  with  anticipation  of  the  pleasure 
he  would  cause  both  his  friends  if  Tom  would 
only  be  kind. 

So,  when  Tom  reached  his  room  with 
the  neatly-tied,  carefully-written  poem,  over 
which  Herbert  had  spent  such  long  and  dili- 
gent study,  and  while  he  was  feeling  the  ut- 
most contempt  for  himself  and  his  meanness, 
he  spied  Ulric  deep  in  a  book  of  travels  he 
had  just  bought,  and  curled  up  on  the  broad 
window-seat,  utterly  unconscious  of  any- 
thing but  the  wonderful  book  he  was  reading. 

As  Tom  gazed  at  the  little  fellow  before 
him,  an  outrageous  plan  suggested  itself  to 
his  mind,  —  to  make  Ulric  destroy  Herbert's 
verses,  and  hastily  wrapping  in  a  newspaper 


TOM'S    TEEACHEEY.  115 

the  hated  theme,  asked  Ulric  to  open  the  win- 
dow and  chuck  it  out. 

The  unsuspicious  little  lad,  did  as  he  was 
requested. 

"  Whew  !  what  a  wind  !"  he  exclaimed,  look- 
ing after  it ;  "  it's  taken  that  old  newspaper 
straight  down  to  the  river.  Why,  what  was 
in  it,  Tom?  Something  white  has  fluttered 
out,  and  Lord  Morton  has  seen  it,  and  is  mak- 
ing for  it  in  the  boat,  and  Stanley  is  running 
up  and  down  the  bank  as  if  he  was  crazy." 

Ulric  turned  around  to  Tom,  and  caught 
sight  of  a  white,  frightened  face,  that  startled 
him. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Tom  ?   Are  you  ill  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  the  boy,  who  saw  his  evil 
scheme  thwarted*when  almost  complete,  and 
knew  the  inevitable  result  would  be  his  dis- 
grace before  the  whole  school,  unless  he 
could  conceal  his  share  of  the  deed. 

"Ulric,"  said  he,  passionately  appealing  to 
the  little  fellow's  sensibility,  "do  you  really 
love  me  ?  " 


116  HERBERT. 

"Yes,  indeed  I  do,  dear  Tom,"  answered 
the  child,  clasping  his  hands. 

"  Then  promise  me  solemnly  not  to  say 
one  word  about  that  paper ;  promise,"  ex- 
claimed Tom,  eagerly. 

"I  promise,  Tom,"  said  Uric,  simply; 
"  but  don't  look  so  dreadfully.  And  now," 
he  added,  brightly,  "I  want  you  to  make  me 
a  promise." 

"Very  well,"  said  Tom,  absently;  "what 
is  it?" 

"  I  want  you  to  be  friends  with  Herbert 
Stanley,"  said  the  little  boy,  breathlessly, 
and  looking  as  if  his  happiness  hung  upon 
the  older  lad's  reply. 

Tom  started  as  if  he  had  been  shot. 

"  Don't  you  know  that  l*e  would  not  look 
at  me?"  he  asked,  without  thinking  that 
Ulric  knew  nothing  of  what  had  been  done. 
"  He  would  not  speak  to  me,  much  less  be  a 
friend." 

"  Indeed  he  would,"  said  Ulric,  positively. 

"  Well,  well,  I  will  think  of  it,"  answered 


ULEIC    IN    TROUBLE.  117 

Tom  ;  "  but  don't  bother  me  now,  Ulric  ;  my 
head  aches  like  all  Jehu." 

"  I'm  very  sorry,"  said  the  sympathetic  lit- 
tle fellow,  pulling  Tom's  head  down  to  him, 
and  stroking  it  gently  with  his  hand.  "  I'll 
charm  it  away  for  you." 

This  was  more  than  Tom  could  bear. 

"  Run  away,  now,  Ulric,"  said  he,  not  un- 
kindly. And  as  the  child  turned  to  go,  he 
added,  "You  may  have  my  book  of  travels, 
if  you  like  it.  Take  it  with  you." 

"  O,  thank  you,  Tom,''  cried  Ulric,  de- 
lighted with  the  gift ;  "  but  don't  you  want 
it?" 

"  I  have  no  time  to  read  it  now.  There, 
take  it  and  run  away." 

Ulric  took  the  book,  and  was  soon  deep  in 
its  contents  in  Herbert's  study. 

Presently  Morton,  Herbert,  and  Warren 
Nelson  came  hurrying  into  the  room,  all 
talking  excitedly. 

"  You  saw  me  put  it  here,  Morton,"  said 


HERBERT . 

Herbert,  hurrying  to  the  writing-desk  on  the 
table. 

"Yes,"  said  Lord  Morton,  positively. 

"  But  it  must  have  been  a  copy,"  persisted 
Warren. 

"At  any  rate,  it's  gone,"  said  Herbert,  bit- 
terly, showing  the  empty  desk. 

"  What  is  it?  What's  the  matter?  "  inquir- 
ed Ulric,  coming  forward,  book  in  hand. 

"Only  my  verses,"  answered  Herbert, 
ready  to  cry  with  disappointment. 

"  O,  what  a  shame  !  "  burst  from  Ulric's 
lips. 

"They  were  taken  from  my  desk  here," 
continued  Herbert,  "within  the  last  half 
hour." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  in  here,  Ulric?" 
,  asked  Lord  Morton. 

"Only  a  few  minutes." 

"  Where  were  you  when  we  went  out  ?  " 

"I  don't  know  when  you  went  out;  just 
before  Herbert  finished  his  writing,  I  went 
up  to  Ward's  room."  „ 


CEOSS    QUESTIONING.  119 

"Ward's  room!"  interrupted  Warren, 
hastily.  "  I  thought  it  was  his  window.  Did 
you  see  him  throw  anything  out." 

"  O,  Warren,"  exclaimed  the  poor  little  fel- 
low, a  suspicion  of  the  truth  darting  across 
his  mind. 

"Ulric,"  cried  Herbert,  "what  are  you 
trembling  and  blushing  so  for  ?  You  didn't 
steal  my  verses." 

"O,  Herbert,  no,  indeed!" 

"  Then  why  don't  you  answer  Warren's 
question?"  asked  Lord  Morton,  sharply. 
"Did  Tom  throw. anything  out  of  his  win- 
dow when  you  were  in  his  room?  " 

"No,"  said  Ulric,  wanting  to  confess  the 
whole,  but  kept  from  it  by  his  promise  to 
Tom. 

_"  Ulric,  you  act  very  strangely.  Did  you 
see  any  one  come  into  this  room  ? "  asked 
Warren,  anxiously. 

«  No,"  said  Ulric. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  new  book  ?  "  in- 


120  HERBERT. 

quired  Lord  Morton,  who  saw  clearly  that 
Uliic  was  not  at  his  ease. 

"  Torn  Ward  gave  it  to  me ;  but  I  shall 
take  it  back ;  I  could  not  keep  it  now,"  said 
the  poor  little  fellow,  bursting  into  tears. 

"Why  not,  little  cousin?"  said  Warren, 
tenderly,  taking  him  in  his  arms,  and  sooth- 
ing him.  «  What  has  Torn  Ward  done  ?  " 

But  Ulric  would  not  speak ;  he  only 
sobbed  away,  as  if  his  little  heart  would 
break. 

"  Shall  I  take  the  book  to  Tom,  and  tell 
him  you  do  not  want  it  ?  "  asked  Warren. 

Ulric  sobbed  an  assent. 

"Now  let  me  dry  your  eyes,  little  boy; 
nobody  thinks  you  would  do  Herbert  any 
harm." 

"No,. indeed,"  said  Herbert,  kindly. 

But  Ulric  would  not  be  comforted.  His 
sensitive  nature  was  outraged.  He  had  been 
made  to  injure  his  best  friend,  and  had 
been  deceived  and  tricked  by  one  whom  he 
had  loved ;  and  now  suspicion  of  the  mean- 


A    CRUEL    TAUNT.  121 

est  act  he  had  ever  known  must  rest  upon 
him,  though  really  innocent. 

Meanwhile  Warren  sought  Tom's  study. 

"  My  cousin  desires  me  to  return  this  book, 
which  under  the  circumstances  he  cannot  ac- 
cept," said  he,  with  a  good  deal  of  his  own 
old,  haughty  manner. 

"  Did  he,"  said  Tom,  hastily,  "  the  little 
muff.  Then  I  suppose  he  has  peached." 

"You  may  suppose  what  you  please,"  said 
Warren,  coolly  ;  "  but  let  me  tell  you,  Tom,  I 
consider  it  very  dirty  work  for  a  fourth  form 
boy  to  let  a  wrong  suspicion  rest  upon  the 
head  of  the  youngest  little  fellow  in  the 
lower  school." 

"  Do  you  ?  But  really,  suppose  you  retire," 
said  Tom,  with  a  cruel  taunt.  "  I'm  afraid  you 
might  murder  me!" 

"  I'm  afraid  I  might,  if  I  staid,"  muttered 
Warren,  between  his  white  lips,  for  his  tem- 
per was  very  hard  to  control,  and  Tom's 
sneer  had  fully  aroused  it ;  but  he  governed 
himself  with  great  credit,  and  merely  say- 


122  HERBERT. 

ing,  "However  you  may  have  succeeded  in 
making  Ulric  promise  not  to  disclose  your 
vile  act,  it  is  known  to  us  all.  I  saw 
the  paper  flung  from  your  window,  and  we 
all  saw  the  theme  fall  out  into  the  river  ;  and 
here,  in  further  proof,  is  the  blue  ribbon  with 
which  it  was  tied.  I  know  the  ribbon,  for  I 
bought  it."  And  Warren  coolly  picked  up 
from  the  carpet  the  ribbon,  which  had  be- 
come detatched  from  the  paper. 

"  When  you  saw  the  paper  flung  from  my 
window,  what  a  pity  your  sight  did  not  ex- 
tend still  farther,  enabling  you  to  see  that  it 
was  Ulric  who  flung  it  out !  And  as  to  that 
bit  of  ribbon,  I  think  the  general  impression 
will  be,  that  you  dropped  it  there,  and  picked 
it  up  again  to  shield  your  cousin,"  the  guilty 
boy  replied,  with  bravado. 

"O,  Tom,  Tom,"  cried  Warren,  "how 
can  I  believe  what  you  say,  when  you  deny 
the  truth  to  my  face  !  and  how  dare  you  ac- 
cuse my  little  innocent  Ulric,  who  has  always 
been  so  fond  of  you  !  Do  you  never  remem- 


CONTRITION.  123 

her  the  old  days,  Tom,  the  first  of  the  term, 
when  you  were  so  merry  and  happy?  Do 
you  know  how  you  have  changed  Tom?  O, 
how  unhappy  you  must  be,  to  be  reduced  to 
such  a  position  as  you  now  occupy  !  Her- 
bert has  always  loved  you.  He  never  did 
you  any  harm  in  his  life,  and  why  should  you 
injure  him?  And  Ulric,  little,  gentle,  loving 
Ulric,  who  is  now  suffering  for  your  fault, 
because  he  will  not  break  a  promise,  how 
could  you  so  cruelly  deceive  him?  O,  you 
cannot  have  thought  of  the  harm  you  have 
done.  But,  Tom,  come  back  to  us  ;  be  one 
of  us  again.  Herbert  will  forgive  you,  for 
you  know,  dear  Tom,  he  forgave  me  a 
Greater  wrons;  than  this." 

O  O 

Ah,  Warren,  "a  soft  answer  turneth 
away  wrath." 

Poor  Tom  leaned  his  head  upon  the  table, 
and  groaned  in  misery.  Herbert  and  Ulric 
he  had  wronged  deeply,  but  his  taunting 
words  to  the  contrite  Warren  were  more 
cowardly,  he  knew,  than  all  the  rest. 


124  HERBERT. 

And  here  was  Warren,  gentle  and  humble, 
actually  abashing  himself  before  the  lad  who 
had  taunted  him  with  the  fault  long  since 
repented  of  and  forgiven. 

"  Warren,  Warren,"  said  he,  with  a  heart- 
felt sob,  "is  it  Herbert  who  has  changed  you 
so?" 

"  No,"  answered  Warren,  softly  ;  "  it  is  the 
Lord." 

And  Tom  knew  it,  and  felt  it,  from  that 
moment. 

"  You  will  ask  Him  to  forgive  you,  —  will 
you  not?"  continued  Warren,  beseechingly. 
"  You  can  never  be  good  and  happy,  dear 
Tom,  until  He  has  blessed  you." 

With  the  traces  of  tears  upon  his  cheek, 
Tom  lifted  up  his  head,  and  thrust  out  his 
hand  to  grasp  WaiTen's. 

"I  will  ask  to  be  forgiven,  Warren.  No- 
body has  talked  to  me  so  since  my  mother 
died.  Can  you  ever  forget  what  I  said  to 
you,  Warren?  Can  you  forgive  me?" 

"O,  Tom,  do  not  think  of  it  again.     Six 


EXPLANATIONS.  125 

months  ago  I  would  have  said  worse,  I  dare 
say." 

Tom  seized  his  cap.  "  I  am  going  to  Mr. 
No  well,  to  tell  him  the  whole  story  :  he  can 
call  my  theme  Herbert's,  or  throw  it  out  al- 
together. I  would  not  take  that  prize  now 
for  all  the  gold  in  California." 

So  the  lad,  who  really  was  of  good  stuff, 
after  all,  went  up  to  the  master  with  his 
story,  telling  bravely  and  faithfully  all  that 
had  occurred. 

"You  have  redeemed  your  character  by 
this  confession,"  said  Mr.  Novvell,  kindly. 
"I  have  watched  you,  Ward,  from  the  time 
you  let  Herbert  suffer  detention  for  a  fault  of 
yours.  I  have  been -much  troubled  lately  by 
your  general  course  of  conduct,  especially  by 
your  desertion  of  your  old  friends  ;  but  now 
that  you  corne  to  me  freely,  and  of  your  own 
accord,  I  can  renew  my  trust  in  you,  who 
have  always  been  my  favorite  scholar." 

"Thank    you,   sir,"   said    Tom,   humbly; 


126  HERBERT. 

"  and  now  may  I  give  my  verses  to  Her- 
bert?" 

"  Why,  no,"  answered  Mr.  Nowell, 
fumbling  around  in  his  desk  ;  "  but  you  may 
copy  these,"  handing  out  a  folded  paper, 
"  which  are  the  verses  written  by  Herbert  on 
the  same  subject.  Copy  them  neatly,  unless 
he  would  prefer  doing  it  himself,  and  tell  him 
I  do  not  think  any  one  will  have  better  lines 
than  those.  The  boy  is  a  genius." 

Tom  Ward  rushed  off  with  the  translation, 
happier  than  he  had  been  for  months. 

"Herbert,"  he  cried,  bursting  into  the 
study,  "will  you,  caw  you  ever  forgive  my 
shabby  behavior?  I  have  been  to  Mr. 
Nowell,  and  told  him  all  about  it.  He  had 
your  old  translation  in  his  desk,  and  sent  it 
to  you  and  he  wants  me  to  tell  you  that  no 
one  else  has  a  chance,  side  of  you." 

Herbert's  readily  extended  hand  was 
grasped  and  wrung  by  Tom,  in  his  excite- 
ment, and  the  two  boys  looked  straight  into 


RECONCILIATION.  127 

each  other's  eyes,  with  the  glad  light  of  re- 
turning friendship. 

Ulric,  with  his  head  upon  AYarren's 
shoulder,  smiled  through  his  tears,  until 
Tom,  seeing  him,  darted  across  the  room, 
and,  catching  him  up,  cried  earnestly,  — 

"Little  Ulric,  you  must  not  hate  me  :  can. 
you  ever  forget  how  unhappy  I  have  made 
you?" 

"That's  nothing,  Tom  ;  I  am  so  glad  you 
have  made  it  up  with  Herbert !  "  said  the 
sweet-tempered  child. 

Morton,  too,  congratulated  the  now  happy 
lad,  stiffly  and  formally,  but  with  kind  inten- 
tions. Tom  never  heard  of  his  offence  again 
from  the  lips  of  the  lads  he  had  wronged, 
and  they  were  all  too  generous  and  truly  hon- 
orable to  let  the  affair  be  known  outside. 
Even  Harry  Caruthers  never  heard  of  it. 

The  examination  came.  The  prizes  were 
awarded,  and  Herbert  and  Tom  Ward  were 
loaded  with  proofs  of  scholarship.  Herbert 


128  HERBERT. 

drew  the  prize  for  verses,  but  a  similar  book 
was  presented  to  Tom,  as  a  mark  of  his 
teacher's  personal  esteem.  Tom  Ward's  book 
of  travels,  and  an  elegantly  illustrated  set  of 
Bible  stories,  were  bestowed  upon  htippy  lit- 
tle Ulrie  Carr,  bearing  the  inscription,  in  Dr. 
Russell's  own  hand,  for  he  knew  the  story,  — 

"  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers ;  for  they 
shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

Then  the  roll  was  called  off,  and  each 
boy's  new  rank  in  the  form  given.  The 
fifth  form  was  headed  by  Warren  Nelson, 
and  Lord  Stanley  had  gained  a  remove  to  the 
upper  sixth.  The  fourth  form  record,  in 
which  we  are  most  interested,  was  read  up 
from  the  bottom,  and  after  a  long  list  of 
names  and  numbers  came 

Montgomery,  fourth,  Caruthers,  third, 
Ward,  second,  Stunley,  first;  and  Stanley 
and  Ward,  double  removes  to  the  upper 
fifth. 

What  a  clnpping  of  hands  greeted  this 
announcement !  All  Herbert's  friends  flocked 


BREAKING    UP    SCHOOL.         129 

around  to  congratulate  him  ;  and  as  for  Tom 
Ward,  how  they  all  laughed  when,  in  a  comi- 
cal speech,  he  assured  them  that  even  mum- 
mies would  applaud  an  upper  fifth  boy. 

And  after  it  all  there  was  a  confusion  of 
farewell  greetings  to  the  masters,  a  general 
scattering  to  rooms  and  a  general  packing  of 
portmanteaus,  and  a  hurrying  and  scurrying 
hither  and  thither,  and  then  a  strange  silence 
at  deserted  Eton,  for  all  the  boys  were  gone 
for  the  holidays. 

y 


130  HERBERT. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

HOME   FOR  THE  HOLIDAYS. 

"TTERBERT,  Herbert,  is  that  Ennis- 
XX  fallen?" 

"  O,  Tom,  look  at  the  sea  I " 

"Where?  where?" 

"  O,  how  glorious  !  " 

"  Isn't  that  a  jolly  place  ?  " 

"Say,  Herbert,  do  you  keep  a  boat?" 

"Morty,  isn't  this  jollier  than  Stanley 
Manor?" 

And  above  all  this  Babel  of  noise,  it's  a 
wonder  to  me  how  they  ever  heard  the 
guard's  voice,  crying  out,  M  Ennisfellen  ;  "  for 
there  they  were  actually,  seven  laughing, 
happy  boys,  in  one  railway  carriage,  and  all 
talking  at  once,  as  the  train  drew  up  at  the 


WELCOME    TO    ENNISFELLEN.     131 

Ennisfellen  station ;  and  then  out  they  all 
tumbled  together,  landing  safely  on  the  plat- 
form, and  beginning  another  confusion  of  in- 
quiries. 

"Do  you  see  any  of  your  people,  Her- 
bert?" 

"  How  are  we  to  get  to  the  house  ?  " 

"  Where  shall  we  have  our  traps  put  ?  "  &c. 

Until,  seeing  Lord  Morton  talking  grace- 
fully with  Mr.  Nichols,  and  Herbert  hug- 
ging Adele,  they  were  seized  with  school- 
boy shyness,  and  stood  around  quietly,  while 
Mr.  Nichols  came  forward  to  welcome  them 
to  Ennisfellen,  and  Adele  shook  hands  shyly, 
and  hoped  they  would  have  a  good  time. 

Then  they  drove  up  to  the  mansion-house, 
Lord  Morton,  Arthur,  and  Ulric,  with  Mr. 
Nichols  and  Adele,  while  Herbert  went  in 
the  other  carriage,  with  the  others. 

No  wonder  the  boys  were  charmed  with 
Herbert's  home.  The  broad,  gravelled  drive- 
way was  in  full  sight  of  the  beautiful  Ger- 
man Ocean.  The  waves  came  rolling  to  the 


132  HERBERT. 

shore,  tumbling  over  one  another,  and  break- 
ing, with  a  heavy  surge,  far  up  on  the  white 
beach.  Off  from  the  shore  they  were  glit- 
tering with  sunbeams,  and  little  flecks  of 
white  foam  bumped  merrily  together.  At 
Flamboro'  Head  great  jets  of  silver  spray 
leaped  over  the  rocks,  and  beyond  it  white 
sails  came  slanting  down  in  the  sunlight. 

The  park,  orchard,  and  gardens  of  En- 
nisfellen  looked  fresh  and  bright  in  their 
spring  verdure ;  and  the  old  mansion-house, 
with  its  verandas  and  long,  arched  windows, 
seemed  to  promise  good  times,  and  merry- 
makings untold,  to  the  eager  young  guests, 
who,  with  outstretched  heads,  were  taking  in 
all  the  delights  of  the  place. 

"  Grandmamma,  grandmamma,"  screamed 
Herbert,  catching  sight  of  her  as  the  car- 
riages reached  the  steps,  "I'm  top  of  my 
form,  and  I've  got  a  double  remove ! "  and 
he  sprang  into  her  arms,  burying  his  shaggy 
curls  in  her  neck. 


GREETINGS.  133 

"  The  lamb  ! "  exclaimed  old,  black  mau- 
ma,  Adele's  faithful  nurse. 

But  her  "  lamb "  looked  vastly  more  like 
a  young  lion,  so  tall  and  strong,  and  with 
such  a  curly  yellow  mane. 

"I'm  so  glad  you  are  well,  now,  dear 
grandmamma  !  "  Herbert  said  fondly  ;  "  we'll 
try  not  to  let  you  get  upset  again  ;  and  now 
I  want  to  show  you  my  friends.  Morton, 
please  come  here."  Morton  advanced  with 
the  others.  »• 

"This  is  Lord  Stanley,  grandmamma," 
Herbert  continued,  presenting  them;  "and 
here  are  Arthur  Montgomery,  Tom  Ward, 
—  who  has  been  top  of  the  form  all  the  year, 
•and  now  has  a  double  remove, — Harry  Ca- 
ruthers,  Warren  Nelson,  and  Ulric  Carr. 
And  now,  grandmamma,  we  will  go  up 
stairs,  if  you  please,  and  make  ourselves 
ready  for  luncheon." 

So  they  all  went  clattering  up  stairs,  mak- 
ing more  noise  that  had  been  heard  in  the 
old  house  for  years ;  calling  to  each  other 


134  HERBERT. 

from  their  sunny  rooms,  planning  amuse- 
ments and  excursions  enough  to  fill  a  vaca- 
tion twice  as  long  as  their  own. 

When  they  came  down  to  lunch,  their 
appetites  seemed  already  to  feel  the  effects 
of  the  bracing  sea  air.  The  lads  had  trav- 
elled all  night,  and  were  content  to  spend 
this  their  first  day  in  or  near  the  house. 
Arthur  and  Ulric  devoted  themselves  to 
attending  Adele,  and  won  her  everlasting 
friendship  by  the  praises  they  lavished  on 
Fido,  a  huge  greyhound  her  grandpapa  had 
given  her  at  Christmas,  and  Gypsie,  her 
Shetland  pony,  scarce  bigger  than  the  dog. 

"  We  can  play  croquet  to-day,  for  a  while  ; 
it's  dry  enough,"  said  Morton,  spying  the 
balls. 

"But  first,"  urged  Tom,  to  whom  the  sea 
was  almost  a  novelty,  w  let  us  go  down  to  the 
beach." 

So  away  went  the  whole  party,  Herbert 
insisting  Adele  must  go  too,  and  Mr.  and 


ON    THE    BEACH.  135 

Mrs.  Nichols,  for  a  long  time  watched  the 
happy,  excited  children  upon  the  shore, 

"  Following  up  and  fleeing  the  white  breakers," 

and  making  footprints  in  the  sand,  which  the 
waves  soon  overwhelmed  and  washed  away. 

The  old  people  were  glad  to  see  Herbert 
and  Adele  so  happy,  and  glad  to  have  com- 
panions for  them,  for  Flamboro',  the  nearest 
village,  was  a  mere  fishing  hamlet,  and  there 
were  no  little  neighbors  around  to  visit 
Adele. 

"  What  is  that  great  rocky  highland  ? " 
asked  Morton  of  his  cousin  at  the  beach, 
and  pointing  as  he  spoke  to  a  huge  mass  of 
chalky  rocks  extending  into  the  water  about 
five  miles  to  the  south  of  them. 

"  That's  Flamboro'  Head,"  answered  Her- 
bert ;  "  and  we  are  going  there  to-morrow." 

"  It  is  tremendously  high,  and  full  of  chalk 
pits  and  caverns.  I've  read  about  it,"  cried 
Tom.  "  How  I  should  like  to  go  there  ! " 

"It's  very  dangerous,  and  you'll  have  to 


136  H  E  R  B  E  U  T  . 

be  ever  so  careful,"  said  Adele,  warningly. 
"  Grandpa  says  he  shall  give  you  a  guide." 
But  telling  the  boys  that  the  exploit  was 
dangerous  made  them  all  the  more  eager  to 
undertake  it,  until  they  forgot  it  for  the  time 
in  croquet.  Then  Adele  went  in,  and  Ulric 
followed  her ;  and  the  two  busied  themselves 
with  pictures  and  quiet  games,  while  the 
boys  played  cricket  on  the  lawn. 

Mrs.  Nichols  became  much  interested  in 
the  gentle  little  Ulric,  and  the  child  told  her 
much  of  his  history,  which  was  sad  enough, 
poor  little  fellow ! 

When  he  was  six  years  old,  he  had  a  kind 
father  and  mother,  and  five  dear  brothers  and 
sisters,  older  and  younger  than  himself. 
Now  they  were  "  all  in  heaven,"  as  the  child 
said,  simply,  with  a  quiver  of  his  thin  lips, 
and  swimming  tears  in  his  large  blue  eyes. 
His  guardian  had  no  home,  and  sent  him  to 
school,  at  his  tender  age,  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way.  Warren  was  very  kind  to  him, 
and  so  were  the  other  boys ;  but  he  was  not 


ULKIC'S    TROUBLES.  137 

happy  at  school.  The  larger  boys  in  the 
lower  school  plagued  and  teased  him,  and 
it  came  out  that  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
beating  him  cruelly,  though  Warren  and 
Herbert  knew  nothing  of  it.  He  was  such 
a  frail,  delicate-looking  child,  that  Mrs. 
Nichols  became  alarmed  as  well  as  interested, 
and  wrote  to  General  Nelson  and  to  Ulric's 
guardian  for  permission  to  keep  the  boy  at 
Ennisfellen,  and  let  him  study  with  Adele 
until  he  was  older,  and  strong  enough  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  school  life. 

The  day  seemed  to  fly  away  "  in  no  time 
at  all,"  as  Arthur  said  at  dinner. 

"  What  a  splendid  place  this  is  to  live  in  I " 
cried  Harry  Caruthers,  across  the  table.  "  I 
feel  like  a  different  fellow  in  this  bracing  air ; 
my  father  won't  know  me  when  I  go  home, 
I  shall  have  gained  so." 

"  Nor  mine,"  said  Arthur.  "  He  took  me 
to  the  Continent  for  my  health  last  term,"  he 
continued  to  Mr.  Nichols ;  "  and  while  we 
were  there  papa  lost  a  box  of  gold  sovereigns 


138  HERBERT. 

in  the  Zuyder  Zee,  off  Holland.  One  would 
think  that  money  lost  there  would  never  be 
found ;  but  a  chap  from  New  York  went 
down  there  with  a  diver,  and  found  the  box, 
which  had  our  crest  and  papa's  name  on  it, 
and  actually  returned  it  to  us  by  the  Count 
D'Orsay,  with  the  money  untouched." 

"That  was  a  rare  occasion  of  honesty," 
exclaimed  Mr.  Nichols ;  "  but  it  was  merely 
what  was  right,  after  all ;  but  did  you  never 
learn  the  name  of  the  lad?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  the  count  sent  his  name ;  it 
was  —  what  was  it  Morty?  you  must  re- 
member." 

"  Eric  Hyde,"  answered  Morton. 

"Why,  that's  our  Eric!"  cried  Herbert 
and  Adele  in  a  breath. 

"And  he  wrote  all  about  it  to  me,  too," 
said  Herbert,  "  but  didn't  tell  me  the  name 
on  the  box  ;  if  he  had  I  should  have  known." 

"  He  is  travelling  in  Germany  now,  with 
Dr.  Ward  and  his  cousin  Johnny  Van  Ras- 
sel  Geur." 


ABOUT    CASTLE    WERNIER.     139 

"  And  that's  the  chap  that  came  down  the 
Lucerne  slide  on  horseback,"  cried  Arthur, 
excitedly,  regardless  of  his  pronouns ;  and  he 
told  Johnny's  ridiculous  adventure. 

"Then,  of  course,  Herbert  and  his  sister 
had  much  to  tell  of  Castle  Wernier,  which 
seemed  a  subject  of  which  they  could  never 
tire,  and  Eric,  and  Nettie,  and  Allan  were 
described  and  discussed. 

In  the  evening,  Adele,  who  was  learning 
music,  played  on  the  piano,  and  Morton  ac- 
companied her  with  his  flute,  making  very 
pleasing  harmony.  Then  they  had  a  little 
singing,  and  Mr.  Nichols  summoned  the  ser- 
vants, and  read  a  chapter,  and  said  prayers, 
and  the  boys  bade  "  good  night,"  and  they  all 
retired  early  to  be  fresh  for  the  Flamboro' 
excursion  next  day. 


140  H  E  It  B  E  li  T . 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FLAMBORO'  HEAD. 

FLAMBORO'  is  at  once  the  most  strik- 
ing and  most  celebrated  headland  upon 
the  eastern  coast  of  England. 

For  miles  around,  its  high,  white,  perpen- 
dicular limestone  cliffs  rise  conspicuously 
from  the  blue  waters,  glaring  in  the  sun 
throughout  the  day,  and  flashing  the  night- 
light  from  its  high,  white  tower  through  the 
long  hours  of  storm  and  darkness. 

The  lads  at  Ennisfellen  were  prepared  for 
thrilling  adventures  ;  such  stories  as  they  had 
read  of  its  chalk  pits,  its  mysterious  caverns, 
and  reported  stories  of  smugglers'  retreats  ! 
and  the  sail  across,  the  inlet  was  in  itself  a 


THE    DEPARTURE.  141 

great  treat  to  these  British  school-boys,  who 
were  born  with  all  an  islander's  love  of  the 
sea. 

Mr.  Nichols  had  engaged  a  small  yacht, 
its  pilot,  and  a  guide,  who  professed  an  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  intricate  paths  among 
the  precipices,  pits,  and  caverns. 

The  "  English  Queen  "  lay  moored  within 
sight  of  the  breakfast-room  windows,  and  the 
English  lads  stood  in  various  attitudes  of  ex- 
pectancy, waiting  around,  while  Mrs.  Nich- 
ols and  Adele  helped  Max  to  put  up  some 
luncheon,  for  they  were  to  "make  a  day  of 
it,"  as  Herbert  had  suggested,  and  the  good 
lady  had  no  idea  of  letting  her  young  guests 
go  hungry. 

At  last,  when  the  baskets  would  hold  no 
more,  the  eager  throng  departed. 

"Remember  to  be  very,  very  careful ;  and 
keep  together ;  be  sure  to  keep  together," 
was  Mrs.  Nichols  parting  caution. 

"  And  bring  me  home  come  pretty  bits  of 


142  HERBERT. 

chalk  for  my  grotto,"  cried  Adele,  "and  some 
garnets,  if  there  are  any  there.  I  do  hope 
you  will  have  a  good  time  !  " 

" I  wish  you  were  going,  "  said  Arthur, 
heartily. 

"O,  grandmamma  could  not  spare  me," 
answered  the  sweet-tempered  little  girl,  who 
really  would  have  liked  to  have  joined 
them. 

"I'll  stay  with  you  then,"  Ulric  volun- 
teered. But  this  Adele  would  not  allow, 
and  he  went  off  with  the  others. 

The  "English  Queen"  received  her  load 
of  luncheon  hampers  and  happy  hearts. 
Adele's  "Bon  voyage!"  was  borne  after 
them  by  the  winds,  and  the  merry  crew 
sent  their  voices  floating  back  in  an  old 
school  song. 

Out  spake  the  captain  of  our  gallant  ship, 

And  a  brave  spoken  man  was  he  : 
"  I've  a  wife  and  a  child  in  New  York  city 

And  to-night  they  will  weep  for  me." 


AN    OLD    SCHOOL    SONG.          143 

CHORUS. 

For  the  ocean  waves  do  roar, 

And  the  stormy  winds  do  blow, 
And  we  poor  sailors  will  go  skipping  to  the  top, 

With  the  land-lubbers  lying  down  below,  below, 
below, 

With  the  land  lubbers  lying  down  below. 

Out  spake  the  mate  of  our  gallant  ship, 

And  a  brave  spoken  mate  was  he : 
"  I  have  a  sweetheart  in  Newburyport, 

And  to-night  she  will  pray  for  me." 

CHORUS.     For  the  ocean  waves,  &c. 

Out  spake  the  cook  of  our  gallant  ship, 

And  a  brave  spoken  cook  was  he  : 
"I  love  my  pots,  pans,  kettles,  and  my  life 

Better  than  the  bottom  of  the  sea." 

CHORUS.    For  the  ocean  waves,  &c. 

Three  times  around  went  our  gallant  ship, 

And  three  times  around  went  she ; 
And  the  last  time  that  she  went  three  times  around 

She  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

CHORUS. 

For  the  ocean  waves  did  roar, 
And  the  stormy  winds  did  blow, 


144  HERBERT. 

And  the  jolly,  happy  sailors  went  skipping  to  the 

top, 
With  the  land-lubbers  lying  down  below,  below, 

below, 
With  the  land-lubbers  lying  down  below. 

The  weird  song  was  highly  applauded,  and 
the  skipper  taught  them  one  he  had  learned 
in  Louisiana  —  a  song  with  which  the  boys 
were  so  delighted  I  will  transcribe  it  here. 
[They  pronounced  all  syllables  ending  in 
y,  ee.] 

There  sails  a  good  ship  in  the  North  Country ; 
She  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Brave  Galantee ; 
As  she  sails  along  the  lowland,  she  sails  along  the  lea, 
I  fear  she  will  be  taken  by  some  Turkish  galley. 

CHORUS. 

As  she  sails  along  the  lowlands,  lowlands,  lowlands, 
Louisiana  lowlands,  low. 

Then  up  spake  a  boy,  and  to  the  captain  said, 
"  O,  what  will  you  give  me,  if  I  will  destroy?" 
"  O,  I  will  give  you  gold,  and  I  will  give  you  store, 
And  you  shall  have  my  daughter  fair  when  we  get 
to  the  shore." 

CHORUS.     As  she  sails  along,  &c. 


THE     PILOT'S    STORY.  145 

The  boy  bared  his  breast,  and  away  swam  he; 
He  swam  till  he  came  to  the  Turkish  galley ; 
And  some  were  playing  cards  and  some  were  throw- 
ing dice ; 
The  boy  he  bored  an  auger-hole,  and  drowned  them 

in  a  trice. 

CHORUS. 

As  she  sails  along  the  lowlands,  lowlands,  lowlands, 
Louisiana  lowlands,  low. 

And  then  Peter  Grey's  misfortunes  were 
narrated,  of  which  the  account  of  his  being 
"scal-pi-ed  by  the  bloody  In-jl-en"  so 
tickled  Ulric  that  he  almost  fell  overboard 
with  laughing. 

But  now  they  were  approaching  the  lime- 
stone cliffs,  and  sat  almost  transfixed  with 
horror,  listening  to  the  pilot's  story  of  a 
party  who  had  ventured  among  the  caverns 
without  a  guide,  and  had  perished  miserably, 
as  was  supposed,  for  they  had  never  been 
found. 

"There  are  some  pits  o'er  three  hundred 
feet  o'  depth,"  said  he,  "  an'  one  in  them  could 
ne'er  be  foind  e'en  if  the  dreadfu'  chalk  sides 
10 


146  HERBERT. 

would  give  o'er  th'  horrible  trick  o'  sliding 
doun  an'  burying  a  body  aloive." 

"There  is  no  danger  for  my  party  if  we 
keep  together,  I  suppose,"  said  Mr.  Nichols, 
nervously. 

"  O,  no,  indeed,  grandpapa,  "  interposed 
Herbert :  "  the  fishermen  say  it's  as  safe  as 
the  hall  to  any  one  who  knows  the  way." 

"And  we  will  all  be  very  careful,  sir,  as 
Mrs.  Nichols  suggested,"  said  Morton,  pleas- 
antly. 

They  were  obliged  to  land  north  of  the 
village  of  Flamboro',  as  farther  down  the 
coast  the  cliffs  arose  abrupt  and  inaccessible. 
So  the  "  English  Queen  "  was  headed  in  to 
the  quiet  little  fishing  harbor,  and  her  pas- 
sengers and  crew  landed  at  the  wharf,  and 
set  out  on  foot  for  the  remaining  two  miles 
of  their  journey. 

A  pleasant  enough  walk  they  had  through 
the  queer  hamlet,  with  fishermen  launching 
their  boats,  or  mending  their  nets  on  their 
knees,  fisherwomen  walking  about  with  loads 


TREASURES    FOR    ADELE.       147 

of  fish  upon  their  heads,  and  little  fisher-chil- 
dren building  houses  in  the  sand,  or  racing 
barefooted  with  the"  breakers  that  came  roll- 
ing in  with  a  heavy,  resounding  roar. 

Suddenly  an  exclamation  was  heard  from 
Ulric,  and  turning,  they  saw  the  little  boy, 
in  a  rapture  of  delight,  kneeling  upon  the 
ground  and  examining  some  delicate  moss. 

"For  Adele's  grotto,"  said  he,  laughing,  as 
they  came  up  :  "  what  is  it,  Mr.  Nichols  ?  " 

"Arctic  moss,  and  the  most  beautiful 
specimen  I  ever  saw,"  Mr.  Nichols  replied  ; 
and  he  showed  Ulric  how  to  take  it  up  and 
preserve  its  perfect  form. 

"Adele  will  be  delighted,"  said  *Herbert. 
"  Isn't  it  beautiful  ?  " 

"  Such  a  delicate  velvety  green  !  and  those 
golden  stalks  and  scarlet  stars  !  "  cried  Mor- 
ton ;  "  it  is  as  lovely  as  a  flower." 

Harry  and  Arthur  now  came  up  with 
handfuls  of  shells,  colored  pebbles,  and  bits 
of  rock  from  the  beach  :  these  they  deposited 
in  Tom  Ward's  basket ;  and  after  duly  ad- 


148  HERBERT. 

miring  Ulric's  pretty  moss,  they  followed 
Herbert,  who  imagined  himself  quite  a 
geologist,  and  went  about  chipping  pieces 
off  all  the  rocks  he  could  find,  with  the  little 
hammer,  which  he  always  carried  with  him 
on  excursions. 

"  What  an  immence  stretch  of  woods  ! " 
Tom  Ward  remarked  to  Mr.  Nichols,  point- 
ing to  the  thick  forests  extending  south  from 
Flamboro'  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

"It  is  over  twenty-four  miles  in  length," 
said  the  old  gentleman,  and  he  went  on  to  tell 
them,  while  the  boys  listened  with  interest, 
that  at  no  very  remote  period  all  Yorkshire 
must  have  been  an  immense  wold,  for  in* 
its  limestone  caves  naturalists  had  found 
fossil  specimens  and  bones  of  many  wild 
forest  animals  now  unknown  ;  that  as  late  as 
the  reign  of  King  Edward  I.  there  were 
bears,  beavers,  and  wolves,  and  before  that 
period  wild  boars  and  wildcats ;  that  now 
there  were  to  be  found  there  the  fox,  badger, 
polecat,  marten,  otter,  hedgehog,  and  hare. 


ON    FLAMBORO'    HEAD. 

"Not  to  mention  the  Norwegian  rat, 
which  is  reported  to  have  swum  across  the 
North  Sea,  and  to  have  extirpated  the  hon- 
est old  rats  of  Great  Britain,"  interposed 
Tom  Ward. 

Higher  and  higher  they  went,  climbing  up 
the  chalky  pathway,  until  the  peaks  of  Cross 
Fell,  Shunnor  Fell,  Great  Whernside,  and 
Peny  Gant  came  into  view ;  and  at  last  In- 
gleboro* ;  and  then  the  guide  produced  a 
long  rope,  which  he  said  the  boys  had  better 
bind  about  them.  But  this  idea  was  scouted 
by  all. 

"A,  weel,"  said  the  guide,"  ye  may  do 
wi'out,  but  ye  maun  e'en  keep  close  togither, 
an*  ne'er  go  ramping  off,  or  ye'll  be  in  a  pit, 
young  gentlemen,  an'  none  can  tak'  ye  oot; 
Leord  save  ye  !  " 

Here  Mr.  Nichols  interposed  the  trite  old 
proverb,  "  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a 
pound  of  cure,"  and  requested  them  to  make 
a  safety  line  of  the  rope. 


150  HERBERT. 

So,  after  the  manner  of  .Alpine  travellers, 
each  boy  knotted  a  part  of  the  rope  around 
his  waist,  the  guide  attached  one  end  of  it 
to  his  belt,  and  Mr.  Nichols,  following  the 
boys'  example,  brought  up  the  rear. 

Now,  as  they  went  on,  the  boys  saw  the 
wisdom  of  following  good  advice,  for  the 
path  became  very  difficult ; -limestone,  that 
looked  a  firm  foothold,  crumbled  and  slid 
away  as  they  stepped  upon  it,  and  now  and 
then  a  sudden  turn  would  disclose  a  gaping 
fissure  at  their  very  feet ;  and  before  long 
they  came  to  a  ridge  so  narrow  that  all 
were  obliged  to  crawl  on  hands  and  knees 
across.  Morton's  face  was  white,  and  his 
head  so  giddy  he  could  scarcely  see  ;  and 
little  Ulric  trembled  so  that  Mr.  Nichols 
blamed  himself  severely  for  letting  the  child, 
so  young  and  delicate,  accompany  them. 
Even  Herbert  and  Warren  Nelson,  the 
hardiest  of  the  party,  drew  a  long  breath 
of  relief  when  they  were  safely  over,  and 
Harry,  Arthur,  and  Tom  were  much  lighter 


THE    LOOKOUT.  151 

hearted  when  the  guide  promised  to  take 
them  home  by  a  better  way. 

And  thus  on  and  on  till  the  light-house 
tower  was  far  beneath  them,  and  the  fishing 
hamlet  hidden  below  the  rocks.  Then  they 
stood  upon  the  topmost  point  of  the  great 
limestone  cliffs  of  Flamboro'  Head. 

Before  them,  lay  the  blue  North  Sea,  be- 
hind them  the  Yorkshire  Wold,  and  on 
either  side  long  stretches  of  barren  rocks, 
and  the  rolling,  tossing,  seething  waters. 
Ennisfellen,  in  its  fresh  spring  beauty, 
seemed  to  nestle  confidingly  between  the 
rocks  and  the  sea,  like  an  "oasis  in  a 
desert,"  as  Tom  remarked,  adding,  "That's 
original,  you  know." 

"  What  land  is  most  directly  before  us, 
now,  across  the  water?"  asked  Harry. 

M  Germany,  "  answered  Mr.  Nichols. 
"  Hamburg  is  almost  in  the  same  lati- 
tude." 

"Look  sharp,  Herbert!"  exclaimed  Tom 
Ward,  seizing  a  ship-glass,  and  pointing  it 


152  HERBERT. 

off  to  the  east ;  "  look  sharp  ;  perhaps  you 
can  see  the  castle." 

"I  wish  I  could,"  said  Herbert,  with  a 
laugh  ;  "  it  is  the  dearest  old  place  I  know." 

"I  should  think  we  might  see  Holland," 
said  Lord  Morton ;  "  it's  only  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  here,  I  believe." 

"Two  hundred,"  corrected  the  guide. 
"  There  be  folks  wha  say  they  saw't ;  but 
it  ne'er  was  known  to  moy  eyes." 

"Grandpapa,"  cried  Herbert,  "the  man 
down  in  the  light-house  there  told  me  once 
that  he  saw  the  sea  serpent  here  in  the  ocean. 
Do  you  think  it  was  ?  " 

"No,  my  boy.  I  have  no  faith  in  the 
monster." 

"But  how  many  people  have  said  they 
have  seen  it,  sir  !  "  said  Tom. 

"  Ay,  that  is  true  ;  but  scientific  men  have 
no  belief  in  mere  reports.  No  bones  of  its 
frame  have  ever  been  found,  and  nothing 
has  thus  far,  to  my  knowledge,  been  dis- 
covered to  prove  its  existence." 


THE     SEA     SERPENT.  153 

"I  ne'er  saw  tha  long  serpent  that-i-loight- 
house  keeper  saw,"  said  the  guide,  in  his 
queer  dialect ;  "  but  I  ha'  seen  tha  ither  one, 
wi'  lono-  arms  loike  tha  branches  o'  the  trees." 

"O,  tell  us,  tell  us!"  cried  the  boys 
eagerly  ;  "tell  us  about  it." 

That  was  just  What  the  man  intended  to- 
do,  and  what  he  always  did  when  on  the.  top 
of  Flamboro',  with  an  attentive  audience. 

His  story  and  subsequent  language  we  will 
translate  into  readable  English. 


154 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  SEAMAN'S  YARN,  AND  A  SUDDEN  DE- 
SCENT. 

IT  was  a  pleasant  group  upon  the  old 
rocks  of  Flamboro'  —  the  boys'  happy 
and  laughing  faces  upturned  to  the  tall 
guide  ;  all  seated  around  on  the  rocks,  eager 
to  hear  the  story  of  the  prodigious  sea  ser- 
pent ;  the  guide  with  a  mysterious  air  of 
something  wonderful  to  come ;  and  Mr. 
Nichols,  enjoying  the  excursion  full  as  well 
as  the  boys,  smiling  bem'gnly  upon  all. 

With  a  gratified  glance  the  sailor  began  his 
story. 

"  I  was  once  voyaging  with  my  brother  to 
Cayenne ;  and  on  that  voyage,  between  Ma- 
deira and  Teneriffe,  we  encountered  the  ter- 


THE     MONSTER,     DESCRIBED.         155 

rible  monster.  It  measured  from  sixteen  to 
eighteen  feet  in  length,  without  counting 
the  eight  formidable  arms,  covered  with  air- 
holes, that  encircled  its  head." 

"What  color  was  it?"  said  Tom,  inter- 
rupting him. 

"Brick  red,"  answered  the  guide. 

"  Did  it  have  e  eyes  for  to  see '  ?  "  inquired 
Tom  again,  mischievously. 

"  I'll  tell  you  if  you  will  keep  quiet,  young 
gentleman,"  said  the  guide,  crossly. 

"  Keep  still,  Tom  —  can't  you  ?  "  cried  the 
other  boys,  all  eager  to  hear  the  seaman's 
yarn. 

"Its  eyes  were  level  with  the  top  of  its 
head,"  continued  the  guide,  "and  were  the 
wickedest  eyes  I  ever  saw.  They  stuck  way 
out  and  glared  at  one  in  a  frightful  way." 

"He  too  muchy  solly,  one  piecie  eye; 
Lookie  sharp,  so  fashon,  aller  same  my," 

said    the  irrepressible  Tom,  with  a  comical 
side  glance  at  the  guide. 


156  HERBERT. 

The  boys  laughed,  for  they  could  not  help 
it ;  and  the  guide,  suspecting  they  were  laugh- 
ing at  his  story,  grew  sulky,  and  refused  to 
"  go  on." 

"Now,  Tom,  you're  too  bad,"  they  cried, 
and  began  pelting  him  with  bits  of  lime- 
stone. 

"  Please  go  on,  Mr.  Guide  !  "  said  Ulric; 
"  he'll  be  quiet ;  won't  you,  Tom?  " 

Something,  Tom  did  not  know  what,  but 
something  about  the  little  earnest  face,  up- 
turned to  his, -made  a  strange  shuddering  feel- 
ing creep  over  him  ;  it  might  have  been  a 
dim  presentiment  of  the  terrible  thing  that 
was  to  happen,  or  it  might  have  been  a  thrill 
of  remorse  at  the  unconscious  memory  of  the 
wrong  he  once  did  the  gentle  little  child  ;  at 
any  rate,  it  had  the  effect  of  sobering  him  at 
once,  and  he  sat  down  quietly,  drawing 
Ulric  into  his  lap. 

The  little  fellow  leaned  back  wearily 
against  Tom's  shoulder,  and  the  guide  con- 
tinued his  story. 


THE    FIG^T.  157 

"  The  monster's  mouth  was  like  the  beak 
of  a  parrot,  and  two  feet  wide.  Its  body 
was  one  great  mass  of  flesh,  that  must  have 
weighed  four  thousand  pounds." 

"O,  my  !  "  and  "  Good  gracious  !"  from  the 
English  boys,  and  a  genuine  "Whew-ew ! " 
from  Herbert,  told  the  gratified  sailor  that 
his  tale  was  getting  marvellous. 

"  My  brother  instantly  stopped  the  vessel, 
and  notwithstanding  the  animal's  huge  size, 
we  tried  to  capture  him.  A  slip-knot  was 
made  ready,  muskets  loaded,  and  harpoons 
prepared  in  all  haste.  At  the  first  balls 
fired,  the  monster  dived  beneath  the  vessel, 
and  came  up  on  the  other  side. 

"  We  fought  him  for  a  long  time  with  mus- 
ket charges  and  harpoons.  He  would  dive, 
and  come  up  again  to  the  surface,  stretching 
out  his  long  arms  to  seize  us.  This  lasted 
for  two  or  three  hours,  but  we  continued  fol- 
lowing it. 

"  My  brother  declared  he  would  capture  it 
at  any  risk,  but  was  afraid  to  venture  a  boat 


158  H.E  R  B  E  R  T  . 

out,  for  the  monster  would  have  drawn  it 
under  water  easily  with  one  arm.  At  last  a 
shot  hit  it,  which  seemed  to  hurt  it.  It  grew 
quieter,  and  the  water  around  was  all  stained 
with  blood. 

w  A  boat  was  lowered,  and  the  sailors  in  the 
ship  caught  the  creature  with  the  slip-knot ; 
but  the  rope  glided  along  its  slippery  sides 
till  it  reached  the  fins  at  its  end  :  these  kept 
the  knot  in  place.  The  men  in  the  boat 
came  to  our  aid,  and  we  attempted  to  haul 
the  creature  aboard.  It  was  just  clear  of  the 
water,  when  its  own  enormous  weight  made 
the  rope  cut  right  through  its  flesh.  The 
monster  fell  back  into  the  water,  and  drew 
down  the  boat-load  of  brave  sailors.  The 
boat  was  smashed  to  atoms.;  but  we  picked 
up  all  the  men  alive." 

"  And  couldn't  you  catch  the  thing  again  ?  " 
asked  the  boys. 

w  No,  for  it  sank  directly ;  but  we  had 
the  fins  and  hinder  portion  aboard ; "  said 


THE    KRAKEN.  159 

the  guide,  going  back  to  the  ridge  for  the 
luncheon  baskets,  which  had  been  left  there 
when  the  party  crossed. 

"It  must  have  been  a  kraken,"  said  War- 
ren. "  I  have  several  stories  and  pictures  of 
them  in  a  book  of  old  Norse  tales." 

*  It's  very  like  an  old  Nurse  tale  to  me," 
said  Tom,  with  a  laugh  ;  "one  of  those 
frightful  monsters  which  were  threatened  to 
catch  and  swallow  me  if  I  didn't  c  be  a  good 
boy.'" 

"  Do  you  believe  it,  grandpapa?"  Herbert 
asked. 

"Not  exactly  as  it  was  told.  They  un- 
doubtedly saw  something,  for  they  sent  the 
report  and  a  drawing  of  the  kraken  —  you 
were  right,  Warren  —  to  the  Museum.  But 
you  must  see,  all  of  you,  that  so  huge  a 
monster  is  highly  improbable.  Fishermen  on 
the  Canary  Islands  say  they  often  see  them, 
about  six  feet  long,  at  high  tide,  but  are 
afraid  to  catch  them.  What  they  do  see  is 


160  HERBERT. 

probably  huge  masses  of  algce,  or  other  sea- 
weed." 

"  Well,"  said  Herbert,  who  was  very  much 
interested  in  natural  history,  "if  there  ever 
was,  or  is  now,  such  an  animal,  to  what  class 
does  it  belong  ?  " 

"The  Cephalopoda,"  replied  Mr.  Nichols. 
"  And  your  huge  kraken  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  species  of  the  common  cuttle- 
fish, whose  bone  Adele  gives  to  her  bird." 

"  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi"  cried  Tom, 
with  an  absurd  flourish  of  his  arms  ;  "  and 
sich  a  transit  as  my  hat  has  made !  "  he 
added  in  the  same  breath,  as  a  gust  of  wind 
caught  it  and  bore  it  over  the  cliff. 

Morton  sprang  forward  to  grasp  it,  but 
missed  his  foothold,  and  fell. 

The  rope,  which  had  been  detached  from 
their  waists  and  laid  upon  the  ground  by 
the  boys,  in  some  way  had  become  twisted 
around  Tom's  feet  and  Ulric's. 

Lord  Morton  clutched  it  to  save  his  fall ; 
but  the  treacherous  rope  slipped  over  the 


OVER     THE     CLIFF.  161 

rocks,  Morton's  weight  bore  it  down,  and 
Tom  and  Ulric  were  hurled  over  the  cliff, 
and  down  to  the  depths  of  a  dreadful  abyss. 

It  was  done  in  a  second.     No  one  could 
save  them,  though  all  sprang  for  the  rope. 

A  shriek  of  despair  from  the  doomed  ones, 
and  an  answering  one  from  their  comrades 
above  on  the  cliff,  reverberated  among  the 
strange  rocks  and  caverns,  and  then  a  silence 
ensued  more  appalling  even  than  the  wild, 
weird  yell  that  had  echoed  from  the  mouth 
of  the  cavern  beneath. 
11 


162  HERBERT. 


F 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

HERBERT   GOES    DOWN   THE    CLIFF. 

,  ,OR  an  instant  the  party  on  the  cliff 
were  stricken  with  consternation,  sense- 
less and  motionless.  The  next  minute  War- 
ren was  away,  swift  as  an  arrow,  to  recall  the 
guide,  while  the  others,  lying  flat  on  the 
ground,  crawled  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and 
looked  over  to  see  —  what  I  —  they  dared 
not  think. 

No  traces  of  the  unhappy  lads  were  visi- 
ble. 

"Stand  back,  boys,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Nich- 
ols, excitedly.  "  Stand  back  where  there  is 
no  danger  of  your  falling,  and  holloa  as  loud 
as  you  can.  I  will  listen  here." 

So  the  boys  crawled  back,  arose  carefully, 


THE     SILVER    WHISTLE.          163 

and  then  sent  forth  such  a  shout  in  unison, 
that  the  mountain  rocks  seemed  to  let  loose  a 
thousand  buried  voices,  ringing  and  clanging 
in  all  directions. 

But  Mr.  Nichols,  lying  far  over  the  cliff, 
and  listening  eagerly,  heard  no  answering 
holloa. 

Arthur,  in  a  paroxysm  of  grief,  threw  him- 
self down,  exclaiming,  "My  brother,  my 
brother  !  I  shall  never  see  you  again.  Whnt 
shall  I  say  at  home  !  " 

And  Harry,  in  a  dull,  ha^ed  way,  said 
slowly,  — 

"  You  are  Lord  Stanley  now,  Herbert." 

"O,  Harry,  hush!"  cried  poor  Herbert. 
"How  can  you  talk  so?"  then,  as  a  bright 
thought  struck  him,  "  Arthur,  Arthur,  your 
whistle  ! " 

Arthur  sprang  from  the  ground,  and  drew 
out  from  his  jacket  breast  a  silver  whistle, 
which  he  always  wore  suspended  around  his 
neck  by  a  strong  silk  cord.  This  he  put, to 
his  mouth,  and  blew  a  sharp,  penetrating,  pro- 


164  HERBERT. 

longed  whistle ;  then  listening  intently,  they 
all  heard,  faint  and  far  away,  but  distinct  and 
clear,  an  answering  note  of  the  same  kind. 

"  Morton  is  alive.  Thank  the  Lord ! " 
Arthur  exclaimed,  excitedly. 

"  Hark  !  "  cried  Mr.  Nichols. 

They  listened.  Three  short,  sharp  tones 
came  up  from  below. 

"  That  must  be  to  let  us  know  they  are  all 
three  alive,"  said  Mr.  Nichols.  "  God  bless 
him  !  he's  a  thoughtful  lad." 

Meanwhile  Warren  Nelson  had  caught  up 
with  the  guide,  and  informed  him,  with 
breathless  eagerness,  of  what  had  happened 
at  the  cliff. 

"Three  lads  fallen  over,  and  taken  the 
rope  with  them  !  "  exclaimed  the  man,  thun- 
der-stricken. Then,  with  unusual  prudence 
and  promptitude  of  thought,  he  added,  "  Sit 
right  do\vn  here  laddie,  and  get  your  breath, 
and  listen  to  me." 

Warren  sat  down,  and  listened  intently, 
while  the  <mide  went  on. 


THE    GUIDE'S    BISECTIONS.    165 

"  You  must  follow  this  path  straight  down 
the  cliff,  until  you  come  to  the  little  brook 
with  the  falls.  Cross  the  brook,  take  the 
path  beside  it  down  into  the  ravine,  and  you 
will  find  a  hut.  Within  it  are  coils  of  rope 
and  a  hunter's  horn ;  bring  back  one  coil  and 
the  horn.  Can  you  do  it  ?  " 

"Yes,"  answered  Warren,  readily,  stand- 
ing, and  turning  to  follow  the  path. 

The  guide  eyed  him  keenly,  to  see  if  he 
showed  any  signs  of  fear. 

"  You  must  cross  the  ridge  twice,"  said  he. 

"  I  have  crossed  it  once,  and  know  how," 
answered  Warren,  eagerly:  "don't  detain 
me." 

"  When  you  get  the  horn,  blow  a  loud 
blast,  and  then  hurry  up  to  the  cliff,"  said 
the  guide. 

Then,"  with  great  swiftness,  he  ran  past 
Warren,  and  down  on  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain. 

Warren  was  surprised  that  he  did  not  re- 
turn to  the  party  on  the  cliff,  but  imme- 


166  HERBERT. 

d lately   concluded    that    he    had    gone   for 
help. 

"At  any  rate,"  said  he  to  himself,  w  the 
things  I  am  bound  for  are  certainly  needed ; 
and  here  goes  for  them." 

• 

So  he  hurried  along  carefully  and  quickly ; 
the  ridge  he  crawled  over  almost  on  a  run ; 
he  leaped  across  the  brook,  ran  along  the 
path,  which  was  almost  as  firm  and  smooth  as 
a,  road,  down  into  the  deep  ravine  with  the 
high  limestone  rocks  on  either  hand,  and  the 
thick,  tall  forests  above.  On  a  little  farther 
he  went,  and  there  was  the  hut. 

And  there  were  the  coils  of  rope  and  the 
mountain  horn  ;  but  besides  them  there  also 
was  a  large,  fierce  bloodhound,  which  stood 
up  and  watched  the  boy  attentively. 

"Warren  spoke  kindly  to  him,  and  the  dog 
wagged  his  tail,  as  if  pleased  to  see  him  ;  but 
when  the  lad  advanced  to  the  rope  to  take  it, 
a  low  growl  assured  him  it  was  not  safe  to 
make  the  attempt. 

A  pistol  lay  before  him  on  a  rude  table, 


THE    BLOODHOUND.  167 

and  his  first  idea  was  to  shoot  the  noble  ani- 
mal. But  this  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
do,  for  the  dog  was  merely  doing  his  duty  in 
guarding  the  treasures  left  in  his  care. 

Warren  saw  that  he  was  chained,  and  had 
advanced  to  the  full  limit  of  his  chain ;  and 
if  some  contrivance  could  be  found  to  make 
the  rope  fall  towards  himself,  it  would  be 
out  of  the  dog's  way. 

So,  peering  about,  he  spied  a  long  pole, 
with  which  he  skilfully  threw  down  the  rope, 
then,  picking  it  up  and  grasping  the  horn 
which  hung  near  him,  darted  away,  leaving 
the  dog  howling  with  rage,  and  tuo-o-ino- 
fiercely  at  his  chain,  eager  to  follow  the 
bold  marauder. 

And  Warren  was  afraid  that  he  would 
follow  him  ;  he  ran  down  the  path  a  few  steps, 
and  then  leaping  into  the  brook,  which  was 
here  quite  shallow,  he  turned  towards  the  cliff, 
and  putting  the  horn  to  his  mouth,  blew  a 
loud,  clear,  ringing  blast,  that  started  the 
echoes  for  miles  around. 


168  HERBEKT. 

Then  he  started  up  the  stream  as  rapidly  as 
was  possible,  remained  in  the  water  for  a  few 
rods,  then  gained  the  path,  and  bounded  over 
the  rocks,  until  he  came  to  the  ridge.  This 
he  was  obliged  to  cross  very  slowly  and  care- 
fully, for  the  horn  and  the  heavy  coil  of  rope 
greatly  embarrassed  his  motions. 

Meanwhile  his  precaution  of  running  into 
the  water  had  probably  saved  his  life  ;  for  the 
dog  burst  his  chain,  and  followed  his  track 
down  to  the  stream,  but  was  at  once  baffled 
by  the  lad's  prudent  forethought.  He  rushed 
wildly  up  and  down,  but  did  not  find  the 
tracks  until  the  brave  lad  had  gained  his 
friends  on  the  cliff. 

The  guide  was  there  before  him.  He  had 
some  rubber  straps  in  his  hands,  quite  long 
and  wide :  these  he  was  inflating  rapidly : 
they  were  life-preservers.  Beside  him  lay 
another  coil  of  rope  and  a  trumpet  similar  to 
the  one  Warren  had  procured. 

The  lad's  appearance  was  hailed  with  an 
eager  shout  from  the  excited  group. 


HERBERT     A    HERO.  169 

"  Warren,  Warren,  one  of  us  is  to  go 
down  with  a  basket  and  a  horn.  They  can't 
be  got  away  until  eight  o'clock  to-night,  when 
the  tide  turns.  They  are  all  alive." 

"That's  a  mercy  !  "  panted  Warren ;  then, 
hearing  a  savage  bark  in  the  distance,  he  ex- 
claimed, "Guide,  there's  a  bloodhound  after 
me." 

w  Good  Heavens  !  "  exclaimed  the  man. 
"  I  forgot  the  dog !  It's  a  mercy  he  didn't 
kill  you." 

"Hero  !  Hero  !  Hero  !"  he  shouted,  going 
forward  to  meet  the  advancing  dog ;  "  come 
here,  sir." 

The  dog  came  up  to  him,  and  the  guide, 
after  patting  his  head,  and  telling  him  it  was 
all  right,  sent  the  intelligent  creature  back  to 
the  hut. 

"  Now,"  said  the  guide,  uncoiling  the  rope, 
"  one  of  you  lads  must  go  down  with  the  di- 
rections. Who  will  volunteer?" 

"I,"  and  "  I,"  and  "I,"  exclaimed  each  of 
the  boys  in  a  breath. 


170  HERBERT. 

"No,"  interposed  Mr.  Nichols  ;  "three 
lives  are  already  in  jeopardy ;  I  will  not 
consent  to  hazard  a  fourth.  I  will  go  down 
myself." 

The  guide  shook  his  head.  "You  are  too 
heavy,  sir  :  we  could  not  hold  you." 

"  Grandpapa,"  said  Herbert,  stepping  for- 
ward, "I  think  it  is  my  place  to  go.  The 
boys  are  my  friends,  and  came  here  at  my 
suggestion.  And  besides,  I  am  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  rocks,  for  I  have  been 
down  among  some  of  the  caves,  with  the 
fishermen." 

"But  he  is  the  youngest  of  us  all,"  urged 
Warren.  "  I  am  not  at  all  afraid  to  go  down 
on  the  line.  Let  me  go,  sir." 

"  The  little  chap  is  the  lightest,"  said  the 
guide,  significantly,  "and  he  seems  plucky." 

"  And  there  is  no  other  way  of  attempting 
the  rescue  ?  " 

"  None.  And  there  are  three  of  them 
down  there." 

"  Then,  Herbert,  my  boy,  you  may  go ;  and 


PREPARATIONS.  171 

God  bless  you,  and  keep  you,  and  bring  you 
safe  back  to  me." 

The  rope  was  adjusted  around  the  heroic 
boy,  who  stood  quietly,  very  pale,  but  with 
a  steady,  courageous  light  in  his  blue  eyes. 

"  I  am  only  doing  my  duty,"  said  he,  cheer- 
fully. 

"Now, "said  Mr.  Nichols,  who  had  been 
talking  with  the  guide,  "listen." 

"You  are  to  descend  this  cliff,  which  is 
nearly  perpendicular ;  and  when  you  reach 
the  foot,  you  will  be  upon  an  open,  chalky 
passage.  When  you  strike  the  passage,  blow 
upon  the  horn  I  shall  attach  to  your  shoulder 
one  loud,  long  blast,  like  this." 

Here  he  blew  upon  the  horn,  and  a 
whistle  note  came  up  in  response  from 
below. 

"They  will  answer  you,"  continued  he. 
"  If  they  are  upon  that  passage,  we  can 
haul  them  up.  If  they  are  down  the  cliff 
at  the  left,  you  can  all  follow  the  path 
around  to  Flaniboro'.  But  if  they  are  duwn 


HERBERT. 

the  other  one,  on  the  right,  all  you  can  do 
will  be  to  climb  as  high  as  possible,  and  wait 
for  a  boat  to  come  at  high  tide,  unless  you 
can  manage  to  get  them  up  on  the  chalk  way. 
If  you  find  them  in  the  left  cavern,  blow 
twice  ;  if  in  the  right,  three  times.  And  be 
sure,  if  they  are  in  the  right  cavern,  to  re- 
main on  the  chalk  cliff  until  I  lower  the  life 
preservers.  And  if  they  are  there,  you  had 
better  take  the  precaution  to  bind  yourselves 
with  a  rope  to  the  copper  ring  riveted  in  the 
flat  rock ;  you  will  readily  find  it,  and  get 
upon  the  rock,  or  you  will  be  washed  off  by 
the  breakers.  If  you  want  rope,  blow  four 
times.  Be  cool  and  careful." 

"  Yes,"  said  Herbert,  "  I  understand." 
"Here,  Herbert,"  exclaimed  Warren  ;  "I've 
written  down  the  guide's  directions  for  you  ; 
and  here  are  some  magnesium-wires  you  can 
burn  there  if  it  is  very  dark :  has  any  one 
some  matches?" 

"Yes,"     responded    Harry,    producing    a 
little  flat  tin  box  of  wax  taper  lights. 


HERBERT    GOES     DOWN.         173 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  said  the  guide. 
"Now,  young  gentleman,  if  you  are  ready." 

Herbert  turned  to  Mr.  Nichols. 

"  Grandpapa,  I  shall  do  my  best  to  save 
them.  If  any  thing  happens,"  —  here  the 
brave  lard's  voice  trembled, — "give  my  dear 
love  to  Adele  and  grandmamma.  I  have 
asked  the  Lord  to  take  care  of  me." 

"He  will,  my  boy;  we  will  all  ask  him," 
said  Mr.  Nichols,  the  tears  stealing  over  his 
cheeks.  And  there  on  the  cliff  they  knelt 
with  uncovered  heads,  while  Herbert's  grand- 
father prayed  for  the  lives  of  the  three  lads 
in  the  cavern,  and  that  of  his  own  dear  boy. 
Then  Herbert  began  his  perilous  descent. 

Painfully  the  first  few  steps  were  watched  ; 
then  the  high  beetled  crags  hid  him  from 
view. 

Breathlessly  the  party  above  slowly  paid 
out  the  lad's  life-line. 

It  seemed  ages  to  them ;  and  they  had 
run  out  over  two  hundred  feet  of  the  line, 


174  "HERBERT. 

when  one  long,  loud  trumpet  note  was  up- 
borne from  the  chalk  way. 

"Thank  God!  Thank  God!"  exclaimed 
one  and  all,  with  a  grateful  shout. 

"  He's  the  bravest  little  lad  in  the  king- 
dom," said  the  guide. 

In  a  brief  time,  two  short,  quick  blasts 
were  heard. 

"The  left  cavern,"  cried  all/  "  They  are 
safe." 

"But  they  have  eight  miles  yet  to  travel, 
poor  lads,  and  it  must  be  most  dark  down 
there  already." 

"  We'll  go  down  the  Flamboro'  and  meet 
them,". cried  Warren;  "but  first,  boys,  an 
English  cheer." 

Such  a  cheer,  with  whistle  and  trumpet 
chiming,  rang  out  from  those  glad  hearts 
that  the  boys  below  heard  and  answered  it. 

Then  the  party  on  the  cliff  started  rapidly 
for  Flamboro'. 


WHO'S   ALIVE.  175 


CHAPTER   XVin. 

THE    RESCUE. 

WHEN  the  lads  fell  over  the  cliff  the 
rope  saved  their  lives,  for  it  caught 
twice,  thus  breaking  their  fall,  and  they 
were  thrown  finally  into  a  soft  bed  of  crum- 
bled chalk. 

"Is  any  one  alive?"  asked  Tom,  faintly, 
recovering  from  the  shonk. 

"I  am,"  answered  little  Ulric's  trembling 
voice;  "are  you  much  hurt,  Tom?" 

"I  don't  know  yet,  Morton  !  " 

A  low  moan  was  the  only  answer. 

Tom  crawled  to  his  side.  Lord  Morton 
lay  face  downward,  and  both  arms  were 
twisted  under  him  ;  one  was  broken  in  two 
places.  4. 


176  HERBERT. 

He  groaned  in  agony  as  Tom  turned  him 
over  and  examined  the  hurt,  saying,  "His 
arm  is  broken.  It  must  be  set.  But  what 
on  earth  can  I  set  it  with.  You  haven't  got 
anything  in  your  pockets,  UJric?" 

"My  clappers,"  said  the  child. 

"The  very  thing.  Give  them  to  me,  and 
your  handkerchief.  Now,  Morton,  poor  fel- 
low, you  must  bear  the  pain.  There  !  now 
the  clappers,  Ulric,  quick  !  that  is  it :  now 
your  handkerchief  and  mine.  There  you 
are,  Morton.  I'll  make  a  sling  of  my  belt 
for  you.  There  you  are  again.  Now  see 
if  you  can  stand  on  your  legs." 

Lord  Morton  found  he  could  stand  and 
walk.  The  pain  in  his  arm  was  severe,  but 
he  bore  it  well,  and  thanked  Tom  for  the 
prompt  treatment  which  greatly  relieved  the 
pain. 

"Now,  Ulric,  see  if  you  are  all  right;  your 
arms  are,  at  any  rate." 

Ulric  attempted  to  rise,  but  sank  back 
with  a  crv  of  pain. 


SETTING    BROKEN    BONES.     177 

"  My  ankle  !  "  he  moaned. 

"Perhaps  it's  only  a  sprain,"  suggested 
Tom.  "  Let  me  see  it.  That  is  all.  Mor- 
ton, let  me  have  your  handkerchief  and  neck- 
tie. Ulric,  you  poor  little  chap,  I  must 
pull  it  in  place,  and  it  will  hurt  awfully : 
now  be  brave." 

The  child's  white  lips  quivered,  but  not  a 
sound  escaped  them,  while  Tom  skilfully 
twisted  the  bone  in  place,  and  quickly  "and 
firmly  bound  it  with  the  handkerchief  and 
two  long  neck-ties. 

"Now  you  are  all  right,  I  believe  ;  and  I  am 
not  hurt  at  all,  to  speak  of;  but  I  say,  boys, 
oughtn't  we  to  be  thankful  for  our  lives  ?  Just 
look  up  there  where  we  came  from." 

They  did  look  up,  and  shuddered  at  the 
fearful  height. 

"I  suppose  they  are  hallooing  to  us,"  said 
Lord  Morton  ;  "  but  we  cannot  hear  anything, 
the  sea  makes  such  a  noise." 

But  even  while  he  spoke  they  caught  the 
ringing  note  of  the  silver  whistle. 
12 


178  H  E  11  B  E  R  T  . 

Morton  eagerly  seized  his,  and  an- 
swered it. 

"Blow  three  times,"  said  Tom;  "one  for 
each." 

"Do  you  think,  Tom,  they  will  ever  get 
us  up?"  said  little  Ulric. 

"Yes,  dear,"  answered  the  lad,  drawing 
the  child  to  him  and  hugging  him  close. 
"I  think,  with  your  brave  cousin  \Ararren, 
and  Morton's  brother,  and  our  dear  Herbert, 
the  attempt,  at  least,  to  rescue  us  will  be 
made." 

"But  it's  growing  so  dark,  Tom  !  " 

"Yes,  little  one;  but  I  suppose  God  will 
take  care  of  us  in  the  dark  as  well  as  in  the 
light,"  said  Tom,  gently.  "Shall  I  ask  him?" 

"  Yes ;  do,"  answered  Ulric,  creeping 
closer  to  the  lad ;  and  Morton,  too,  bowed 
his  head  reverentially. 

And  there  in  the  gathering  darkness  sat 
the  suffering  lads,  every  minute  seeming  an 
hour  to  their  excited  nerves. 

At  last,  when   it   seemed   that  hours  and 


THE  RESCUE.  —  Page  179. 


THE    RESCUE.  179 

hours  had  passed  over  their  heads,  a  shout 
was  heard  above  them.  Herbert  was  there  ; 
and  they  were  saved. 

Late  at  night  the  party  returned  to  Ennis- 
fellen,  where  they  had  long  been  anxiously 
awaited. 

Herbert  was,  of  course,  the  hero,  though 
Warren  was  lauded  upon  his  courage  in 
twice  crossing  the  ridge  alone,  and  in  facing 
the  fierce  dog,  who  would  have  torn  him  to 
pieces  had  not  the  lad  outwitted  him. 

And  to  Tom's  ready  skill  in  bandaging, 
the  doctor  declared  that  Lord  Morton  owed 
the  favorable  condition  of  his  arm.  The  lad 
had  also  carried  little  Ulric,  who  was  unable 
to  walk,  upon  his  back,  for  a  long  distance 
over  the  rough  mountain  path  to  Flamboro', 
until  Warren,  who  first  met  them,  relieved 
him. 

"  And  we  never  could  have  got  along 
without  your  magnesium- wires,  »Warren," 
said  Herbert,  "  nor  Harry's  matches." 


180  HERBERT. 

"  I'm  so  glad  you  had  them  ! "  said  Warren  ; 
and  added,  "  To-night  is  the  first  time  I  ever 
regretted  being  a  large  boy." 

"But,  after  all,"  interposed  Harry,  "you 
didn't  get  the  hat."  Which  sage  remark  was 
greeted  with  such  a  roar  of  laughter,  that  the 
lad  concluded  to  make  no  more  speeches 
until  his  scattered  wits  returned  to  him. 

They  had  many  more  excursions,  and 
some  adventures  too,  during  the  rest  of  their 
visit,  but  no  such  dangerous  exploits  as  that 
of  Flamboro'  Head. 

And  when  the  holidays  were  over,  and 
the  lads,  with  the  exception  of  Ulric,  whose 
guardian  gladly  consented  to  allow  him  to  re- 
main, left  Ennisfellen  for  their  own  homes, 
there  was  not  one  among  them  whom  Herbert 
had  not  influenced  for  good  by  his  uniform 
gentleness,  his  simple  religious  faith,  and  the 
unfaltering  courage  he  had  displayed  in  risk- 
ing his  own  life  for  that  of  his  schoolmates. 


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